These Bonds of Friendship
by whenthewallscomecrashingdown
Summary: Rose, Albus, and Scoripus all knew about magic, Hogwarts and the hatred between their families. Mackenzie was muggle born but it didn't matter. These bonds of friendship are never broken. Rose/Scorpious Albus/OC
1. Prologue

New Generation: This is a story of Rose/Scorpious and Albus/OC. If you don't like it if I have an OC as a prominent character in my story, don't read my story. Simple as.

* * *

Prologue:

Rose and Albus were pushing their way through the many students abroad the Hogwarts Express. Students were chatting and mingling, couples kissing, girls screaming, and boys greeting each other.

Rose was excited. She had heard so much of Hogwarts from her elder cousins Victoire, Dominique, Louis, Lucy, Molly, Roxanne, Fred and James. Victoire was Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's eldest daughter. After Victoire, Dominique and Louis were born (they're twins).Victoire is in her seventh and final year at Hogwarts and Dominique and Louis are going into their fifth year. Molly and Lucy were Uncle Percy and Aunt Audrey's daughters. Molly was a sixth year and Lucy was a fourth year. Roxanne and Fred were Uncle George and Aunt Alicia's kids. Roxanne was a fourth year and Fred was in second year. James was Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny's eldest son. He was a second year with Fred and liked to cause mischief and annoy his younger brother Albus (Rose's cousin and best friend.) James and Albus also had a younger sister named Lily, who starts her first year at Hogwarts next year. Rose also had a younger sibling, Hugo, who would start Hogwarts next year with Lily.

Rose had a big family, she knew. Her family also happened to be famous. Her Uncle was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived and later killed Voldemort. Her parents were two thirds of the Golden Trio, Hermione (nee Granger) and Ron Weasley. Now Rose decided to make a name for her self. With her long, shimmering brown hair that contained tints of red (being a Weasley of course) that made soft waves down her back and her ability to stay balanced on a broom she was going to become her own person at Hogwarts.

Right beside Rose, Albus was thinking similar thoughts. With such a large, accomplished family, he had a lot to live up to. His brother James and cousin Fred were great mischief makers, Victoire was Head Girl, Molly and Louis were Gryffindor prefects and Dominique was really a talented Chaser in Quidditch. He and Rose, together, were going to find their niche.

Scorpious Malfoy was attending Hogwarts. It was to be his first year. He was shaking a little, not that anyone could see behind his cool façade. His father had warned him of the Weasleys and the Potters but he had not understood. He did not know just how big of a part they would be in his life. So, without looking back, he boarded the train to Hogwarts to begin the start of his education.

Standing alone on Platform 9 and ¾ was a small, shy girl with short brown hair about to her shoulders. She was exhausted for it had taken her a long time to reach her destination.

First, she hopped a plane to New York, with frequent stops for she had left form Arizona. Then, she caught another flight to London. From London she had caught a cab to Kings Cross Station and managed to find platform 9 and ¾ only by the luck of meeting another family. She was born a Muggle, not that she knew that yet and had no idea what to expect. So her journey as well began when she boarded the Hogwarts express. She would be connected with many famous people that she had not known in her prior Muggle life and this girl, would change two families forever. But no one knew yet, not even the girl so she boarded the train to begin her new life. Yes, Mackenzie Ross thought, Today I start a new life.


	2. Remember when we first met?

Disclaimer: Sadly, I am not J.K. Rowling, so I do not own Harry Potter or any of her characters. I do however own the plot and Mackenzie, whom I love dearly :) this will be my only disclaimer bc i hate to remindmyself that I am not, indeed, J.K. Rowling.

**I'll be there for you  
When the rain starts to pour  
I'll be there for you  
Like I've been there before  
I'll be there for you  
'Cause you're there for me too  
--Bobby Vinton**

**Chapter 1---**

_**Mackenzie's POV**_

Rose and I were sitting next to each other in our sixth year Potions class as usual. Scorpious and Albus sat at the table behind us, doing whatever boys do in class (which is, in short, sleeping and/or not paying attention and not getting caught by the teachers). Then, Rose started giggling,

"Haha! Merlin, Z, remember first year on the Hogwarts Express and how we met? Wow it was five years ago yesterday". We had just gotten back to school the previous day and were catching up about what had happened during the few weeks we hadn't seen each other, even though I spent most of the summer with her and Al and Scor, I spent the last few weeks in America with my family.

"Of course! Gosh, I remember that day like it was yesterday…

***Flashback***

I was looking for an open carriage on the Hogwarts Express. I had just recently learned I was a witch and flew all the way form America to London to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After looking around, I saw what seemed to be an open carriage, so I slid open the door. Inside, there was a small blond boy with grey eyes who suddenly looked up at me.

"Hey, do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else full" I said quietly because he looked intimidated and I really needed to sit down, I was exhausted.

The boy looked at me as if I was crazy. I noticed that in his lap lay a strange book called_ Hogwarts: A Revised History_. "You actually want to sit with me?" he said incredulously.

"Well are you contagiously sick, a pervert, a stalker, or a criminal?" I ask.

He shakes his head no to each of these things. "Then yes, I want to sit with you."

He just looks at me, then says "But my last name is Malfoy."

"Ok…and my last name is Ross, so?"

He suddenly seems to understand something. "Here," he hands me his book "read about my family, then tell me you want to sit next to me."

_Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater and for a long time very close to Lord Voldemort. His son Draco was also a Death Eater… _The text continued to explain all about how Lord Voldemort had killed many muggle borns (or non magic folk) and even many wizards.

"I still want to sit next to you." I said with determination.

"What?" he gasped. I roll my eyes at him "First, off I was only doing what you asked me to do so don't act so surprised, and secondly I honestly couldn't give two shits about what your parents did, because just because they did some horrible things doesn't mean that you will." I flash a quick smile at him and say "Now, how about we introduce ourselves properly, I'm Mackenzie Ross, muggle born, nice to meet you" and hold out my right hand to shake.

He smirks then shakes my right hand and says "Scorpious Malfoy, delighted to meet your acquaintance." I laugh and we begin to talk, I ask him everything want house he wants to be in (Gryffindor, he wants to be different then his family), what his favorite color is (red) what his middle name is (Hyperion) I laughed at that one, I told him he had an unusual name, he scowled but quickly laughed to show that he wasn't really mad.

Suddenly, our carriage door slid open again. A boy and a girl stood before us, the girl with long, wavy, brown hair and warm brown eyes. The boy had black hair that stuck up in all directions and piercing green eyes.

The girl spoke, "all the carriages seem to be full. Do you guys mind if we sit with you?"

Scorpious seemed totally mute at that point and looked toward the ground so I decided I might say something, "Oh sure, I don't have a problem with it, but Scorpious here was in this carriage first so as long as its ok with him."

Both the girl and the boy suddenly turned towards Scorpious who they hadn't really noticed until this point. Suddenly the carriage became really quiet. The girl spoke again "Oh, um well you know I'm sure we can find another carriage."

"What?" I ask "I thought all the carriages were full!" The girl looked a little confused. "Muggle born" Scorpious said quietly. The green-eyed boy looked at me curiously. "Yes, I am" I say proudly "Mackenzie Ross, nice to meet you." I say. The girl smiles "My name is Rose Weasley, and this is my cousin, Albus Potter." She says motioning to herself, and then to the green-eyed boy.

"Ok then, I know you, you know me. Sit down". "Oh, but," Rose starts to protest. I roll my eyes at her, "you know not liking someone because of their family isn't very nice. You don't judge me by my family because you don't even know them; heck for all you know they could be crack dealers!" Rose sniggers at this. "Don't give me all that ooo sorry family feud mumbo jumbo crap, that's all stupid. My point is, sit down, we might surprise you." I wink at her.

Albus and Rose look at each other. Then Rose turns to me and smiles, "You already have."

"Come on then, Scor help me lift their luggage, Merlin I can't wait until we learn the levitation spell!"

Scorpious smirks at me "Scor?" he says, his voice filled with disdain. I smile angelically back at him "I just made up a nickname for you; how brilliant am I?"

Albus snorts, "And she's modest too". I bust out laughing and soon everyone joins me. "You'll learn to love me!" I decalre, "because let's face it I'm just soo loveable!!" I smile angelically at him. Albus snorts again "Again with the amazing modesty." I stick my tongue out at him and everyone laughs again.

We all sit down and start talking about what we think school will be like and our fave things. And I look at my new friends, joking and laughing together, and think to myself that maybe, its ok after all.

*End Flashback*

"Oh Rosie, I could never forget meeting you and Al and Scor for the first time" I say solemnly then roll my eyes. "And I'm sure if I do, you guys will all be happy to reenact our meeting." She giggles "Thank Merlin we were all sorted into Gryffindor!" "I know imagine if Scor and Al were put into Slytherin! Gah!"

Just then two balls of parchment hit us square in the back. "We know when we're being talked about!" Albus whispered-yelled. "And we're going to talk about you just so you know how it feels!" Scorpious finished for him.

"Wow," I said to Rose, "I never knew boys could be so sensitive!" Then, three things happened simultaneously, Rose laughed, we were hit with two more parchment balls, and the bell rang signaling the end of Potions.

Rose and I ran after us with Al and Scor hot on our heels yelling our names out and threatening us to tell them why we were talking about them or they were going to hurt our feelings.

I have great friends.

**A/N: ok so this chapter was basically about how they became friends and what houses they were sorted into next chapter will probably be in Rose's POV. I'm thinking about doing a different story just on the boys POVs. Tell me what you think….**

**~wwccd **


	3. Of laughing, lying down and nicknames

Girl put your records on, tell me your favorite song

you go ahead let your hair down

sapphire and faded jeans, i hope you get your dreams

you go ahead let your hair down

you're gonna find yourself someday, some how

~Corinne Bailey Ray

**Chapter 2---**

_**Rose's **_**POV**

Mackenzie and I were sprinting down the halls, trying to keep Al and Scor from catching up to us. While we were both in shape form Quidditch, Z was obviously faster (lucky girl, naturally built sprinter my arse!). Just as Scor and Al were catching up to me I yell "Run Z! Run for your life!!"

She turns around and shrieks at how close they are and suddenly takes off really fast.

"You go after Z Al; you're faster" Scor yells "I've got Rose!" I spin on him "Oh you've got me eh?" and then I take off running in a totally different direction.

Soon, though, I grow bored of running and finally just stop. I stare looking up at a painting of a beautiful girl in a violet dress holding a bouquet of flowers, dancing spastically through the frame. I hear footsteps and turn around to see Scorpious Hyperion Malfoy walking towards me.

Ok, so even though I know him well and have seen him go through puberty, and quite often hate his guts when we're fighting, I do happen to realize that Scorpious Hyperion Malfoy looks like a Greek God. With his blond hair, not as light as his fathers, but not dark enough to be considered dirty blond, and grey stormy eyes, many girls at Hogwarts have taken a fancy to him. He has a cool demeanor around everyone he does not know if he can trust, which makes him mystifying and strangely alluring to many witches.

But, since I do know and love him as the little boy who went through puberty and was embarrassed whenever Mackenzie and I _mentioned_ the word period, I roll my eyes at him and ask "How long do you think they'll be running for?"

Scor rolls his eyes right back at me then smirks, "Ages, probably" we both laugh at that, even though Z and Al both love to run, they tend to spend more time running _away_ from each other rather than towards each other; idiots. I love them dearly, but sometimes they are SO BLOODY STUPID!

Scor looks at me and smirks. I realize I have said the last part of my thoughts out loud and I laugh and shake my head "Think they'll ever realize?"

"Realize what?" Scor asks, just because he knows it irritates me. "Realize that-"but just as I was about to finish that sentence something runs into me; or rather, someone. Making me stumble into Scorpious head first, luckily he managed to catch me. Bu not before I realized how safe I felt in his strong arms. Pshh those are totally feeling that best friends are able to have!

"Whoops Rose, sorry I really should have looked at where I was going" Z smiled at me while catching her breath. Yeah, I know that smile, she's planning something.

"What are you doing?" I ask her. "Eh?" she replies "running away from Al of course!" and then screeches when two arms encircle her waist and she lifts her head up and finds herself looking at my cousin.

"And not doing a very good job of it, are you, Z?" he said laughing.

See, the weird thing is Scorpious and Albus are complete opposites. Al has dark hair and green eyes, and Scorpious has blond hair and grey eyes, for one. But also, their personalities are so different Al is so light and carefree and happy and Scorpious smirks and has a cold demeanor around people he doesn't trust. Add Z into the mix, the messed up muggle born with straight, long brown hair and pale skin (who well all love dearly, Albus especially dearly, but that's another story) who is never afraid to say her mind, pretty much the very definition of a Gryffindor.

Z and my cousin, (coincidentally Ablus's brother as well) James, really get along well because they're so alike. They just are on the same wave length sometimes its creepy, that happens often with my cousin Fred as well, seeing as he and James are so close.

All of my friends laughing again brings me out of my reflections. Then Scor puts an arm around my shoulders and says "So Rose, NOW what do you think about having dinner?" I look at him like he is crazy…"Sounds great?" I ask confused.

"Well, see last time we asked you, you said 'Mmm, not right now Scor, can't you see I'm thinking?!" Scorpious smirked as he finished.

I roll my eyes at him, "You haven't asked me about dinner yet, you git, you asked whether or not I liked treacle tart or banana pudding!"

He laughed "Sure, Rose". I scowl at him, push his arm off my shoulders, turn on my heel, and walk away. I soon hear Z running after me, finally managing to get out of Al's strong embrace. (Hint, hint, nudge, nudge, cough, cough, oh come on! Can no one see what is going on here but me?)

"Oh Rosie, he was just joshing with you" Z said in her strange accent. See (or rather hear haha i amuse myself..), she was born American but spending so much time in England, she kind of had a hybrid accent, blending the two accents with ease.

"Yeah, I know, I don't know why it bothers me so bloody much!!" I say, frustrated, nobody else made me feel this frustrated ever…except maybe Hugo once or twice.

Z's eyes suddenly sparkle with mischief "Well…I do have on theory!" she said in her sing song voice. "No!" I yell. "No I don't want to know! Leave me alone and let me deal with it in peace!"

Just then Scor and Al come bounding up to us looking like two lost puppies. "Um…are we interrupting something?" they ask together.

"NO!" I yell just as Z has decided to yell "Yes!" then we both look at each other and start laughing our arses off because for some reason we think that's just the most hilarious thing that has ever happened to us since we saw Uncle Percy carry Uncle George around like a little baby one drunken summer night.

Al and Scor just roll their eyes at us and wait for us to calm down. "Now," Al started as we had regained composure "why the hell was that so funny?" Z and I just looked at each other and shrugged. "Dunno," Z said, "it just was." "Ok then?" Al gave her a funny look, one that kind of looked like a mix between admiration and thinking she was on drugs.

Then Z started busting out laughing and again, and again for no reason, and though none of us understood why we were laughing suddenly we were all laughing so hard tears were streaming down all of our faces. Z was leaning on Albus for support (otherwise I'm sure she would've fallen over) and Scorpious and I were holding on to each other for what felt like dear life. Mmm. Wait mm what? I didn't enjoy that! Did I?

Finally, Z just lied down on the cold, stony floor of Hogwarts and moaned "Merlin, my abs hurt" Al just looked down and laughed at her "It's your fault!" Z smirked "Never said it wasn't. I haven't laughed like that in ages!"

Suddenly Professor McGonagall, who was really headmistress but insisted we call her professor, came down the hall at a brisk pace. "Miss Ross what in Merlin's name are you doing on the ground?" she questioned. "Well you see, Professor, I was walking here with my awesome mates and my shoelace decided to untie itself and I tripped and landed right here on the floor." She smiled angelically at the professor.

"Well, all right then, but I suggest you get up quickly if you want to make it to the Great Hall in time for dinner." Al offered his hand to her and she flashed him a quick smile and got up gracefully. "See you in the Great Hall professor!" she said to Professor McGonagall's retreating back.

"Pshh be late for dinner, my arse. I'll lie down on the ground if I want to!" and she laid right back down on the floor with her eyes closed. "Come on Ro take a sit with me!" "Oh no, Z, Ro? My name is already one syllable!" I complain.

"Ahh yes," Z said, "but frankly I am just too lazy to say your full name." She wrinkled her nose "Scorpious, Albus, and Rose, I mean all together that just takes so much effort to say! But I think the nicknames suit you all quite nicely, Scor, Al and Ro, my bestest buds." And what can you say to that? Albus apparently has an idea.

"But Z, your full name is Mackenzie, which is three syllables just as long as Scorpious." Al shakes his finger at her. "Double standards, Miss Ross." She stuck her tongue out at him "quite right, however my nickname is one letter, therefore I have the shortest name" Albus rolled his eyes "what if I called you Kenzie." Then you'd have the longest name of all of your bestest buds!"

Z just conjured a pillow and hit him repeatedly with it. Scor and I just sat next to each other laughed until our abs hurt all and we were leaning on each other for support all over again, watching them fight each other.

Scor, Ro, Al, and Z: bestest buds.

**A/N: wow, ok two in one weekend, that's new. It had nothing to do with the fact that I felt extremely bored… Please please please review and tell me what you honestly think… it would be very much :) appreciated ****new chapter coming up next week maybe Friday night again? This will prob be a long ff so remember to stay tuned and hang in there the first chaps are really boring bc you're just learning about the characters and their friendship!!**


	4. I'm blue and Tired but not Sad

_I'm blue, da ba de, da ba die  
Da ba de, da ba die  
Da ba de, da ba die  
Da ba de, da ba die  
Da ba de, da ba die  
Da ba de, da ba die  
Da ba de, da ba die_

-Eiffel 65

**Chapter 3-----**

_**Mackenzie's **_**POV**

I'm worried I'm an insomniac. I mean, seriously, what normal person is still up at 3 in the morning and isn't tired and/or doing homework that they had procrastinated? Oh wait, I'm still not used to the time difference. In Arizona, USA, where I live for the summer, its only 8 at night there, while its 3 am in England.

Quietly, so as not to wake Rose, Sasha, Olivia, and Sophie, I creep into our dormitory bathroom. Ho hum de dum…whatever shall I do? Then, I notice my reflection in the mirror. My hair is just so boring, the color of dirt. Rose's hair is a pretty brown, with its natural red highlights that come from the amazing Weasley genes. Woe to my hair! Then, I get a sudden inspiration!

I stick my wand to a lock of my hair, and presto! It turns dark blue. I continue to do this until I have many blue streaks in my hair, it looks cool. Well, now I'm tired and have accomplished all my homework, gossiped with Rose, and made my hair look cool!

The next thing I know a pillow is being thrown at me. "Rise and shine sleeping beauty!" shouts Rose from the bathroom, "Second day of classes!" I groan, stupid time difference its 11 at night!

"Rose, I got three hours of sleep and its 11pm in America. Why do we have stupid time difference?" I groan.

"Well, the sunlight…" Rose starts explaining. I dose off again. Again, at 7 Rose wakes me up "come on, you're going to miss breakfast and be late for class!" This time, I listen to her and throw on the first robe I see, even though it's probably dirty. I leave my hair down, because I'm just too lazy to throw it up, quickly put on shoes and grab my book bag, which I had already packed last night with some major Divination skills, Professor Trelawney would be proud.

"Ok Rosy-Posey, let's go!" I scream because, now that she woke me up, I'm kind of hungry. Rose just stares at me. And stares. And stares. And stares. Ok I'll bite. "What are you looking at?"

"Your hair." She states simply. "My hair?" I ask. "Its blue." She states the obvious again. "Well, yes, see…" I start to explain until she cuts me off "I like it. Can we go to breakfast now?"

So we set off at a slow pace towards the Great Hall, mostly due to the fact that I'm so time difference disoriented that I believe myself to be having a midnight snack instead of breakfast. We enter the Great Hall and sit down at the Gryffindor table and I grab some toast and start spreading butter on it.

James, Albus's brother, flicks my hair "Hey, Z, cool hair!" he shouts. I beam at him "why thank you I thought it looked cool". He smiles, then leans down into my ear and begins whispering to me "I'm planning a new prank and need your oh so masterful planning skills. Room of Requirement, end of classes, Friday."

I wink at him to show him I understand and look up to see Al and Scor finally arriving at the table, just in time to eat a little breakfast before Herbology. "Umghblks" they mumble, while Rose looks at me, confused. "Morning to you too" I say and lay my head down on the table and yawn. "Merlin I'm tired."

"Whoa, your hair!", Al says his first intelligent words of the day. "Mhmm do you like it?" I ask sleepily. He leans down to inspect it a little more and I feel his breath on the back of my neck and I that normal? He laughs at me, "Only you, Kenzie, would think to do this. It's very unique, very, you." I smile back at him "Well, I do have a marvelous mind."

He winks, "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Kenzie." I scowl at him, "how long are you going to keep the 'Kenzie' thing up?" "Until I get bored of it" Great. That will never happen. He likes annoying me too much.

Scor looks at his watch, looks at all of us, and groans. This is our cue; we finish eating very quickly and rush outside to Herbology. Professor Longbottom walks into class right as we are taking our seats.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to your first Herbology lesson of 6th year." He says "We won't be dealing with any plants today, but…" at this point I begin to tune him out. I look over at Al, we are set in tables of four in Herbology and Professor Longbottom lets us sit wherever we want to as long as we have two boys and two girls per group. This works out perfectly for me and my bestest buds as Albus and I sit across form Rose and Scor.

Now, see, James and I discovered this awesome spell that you can put on your parchment so that you can write on your parchment,and it magically (no pun intended) shows up on the other peoples parchment that you peformed the spell on. (A/N: I hope that makes sense…tell me if it doesn't and I'll try to explain it better). So I pretend like I'm taking notes and write on my parchment and let magic do its thing.

**_I'm so tired! – Z_**

You think you're tired, I was up until 3! – Al

_**Haha, you're soo funny Al, I was up until 3 too! :P and it s 1 o clock in the morning Arizona time!**_

Fine, you win.

**_Mhmm. I thought so. Do you like my hair?_**

I told you I did.

**_Nuh huh you said it was 'very unique; very you.'_**

Fine, yes Kenzie, I do like your blue hair.

**_Pshh it's not blue, they're blue highlights._**

Same difference.

**You guys are so weird – Scor**

**_We'll we're bored, entertain us._**

_You guys should be taking notes! - Ro_

**_Mwahaha! You said Ro!_**

_We'll, I'm too lazy to spell out my own name!_

**Its four letters! Scorpious is so much longer!**

**_Mackenzie is just as long!_**

**But you go by Z**

**_But on my papers for school I have to write my full name!_**

Does it really matter?

_Neville's looking this way!_

**_He is not Rose!_**

_Haha you spelled out Rose!!_

**_This only proves that I am less lazy than you._**

_I'm stopping before we get in trouble._

**Me too**

**_Well, Al, old buddy ol' pal…I guess it's just you and me_**

Then, the bell rings and I look up. Wow, that class was fast. The rest of the morning seems to fly by and suddenly, its lunchtime.

We all arrive at the Great Hall and I put my head down again. Time seems to be catching up with me. "I'm so tired I don't think I can eat."

Al looks at me, worried, "You need to eat. You need to keep up your strength. Wow I sounded like my mum" he laughs, "but seriously just eat something at least." "Al, its five o clock in the freaking morning and I'm tired!" people begin to look at me strangely and I can't tell if it's because I have blue in my hair or if it is because I just announced it was five in the morning when it's really noon. I smile innocently until the look away.

"Fine, just give me that strawberry." As I eat my delicious strawberry I wonder if Professor McGonagall would let me skip the rest of my classes; probably not.

I suffer through my afternoon classes, desperately trying not to fall asleep through double Divination. Yippee! Classes are over and this time I snuggle into my warm bed even though its 3 in the afternoon. I am exhausted and fall asleep. And here begin the dreams that I've been having for awhile now. They started out as sweet, innocent dreams. But now, they're the first thing I think of when I wake up, and the last thing I think of before I drift off to sleep.

These dream, will they every stop? Just then, I feel myself fading away into sleep, and I realize that if these dreams ever did stop, I would be extremely disappointed.

* * *

**A/N: ooo first cliffie!! kind of...its not really that good, but anyway: ok so i just love writing this story so much that the chapters will come out in random intervals because as soon as i finish them i want to put them up :) so you should prob just add this to your story alert pls pls pls review...i really want to know what you guys think of it and if you have any suggestions!! **

**~wwccd**


	5. Seeing the Future

Take me back, take me out  
Back to the future  
Back to the future  
Change your thinking  
Change your mind  
Back to the future

- Dianna Ross

**Chapter 4---**

_**Rose's **_**POV**

You know when you wake up and you just know that today is going to be a horrible day? Today is just one of those days. First, Z woke up before me. That rarely ever happens. She is always up way after me, so I knew it was late. So I had no time for a shower and I raced down to the Great Hall in a dirty robe.

Right when I reach the table, the food disappeared signaling the end of breakfast. Great, so I woke up late, didn't shower, rushed down here, and I didn't get to eat. Al throws a roll at me. "Here, you looked exhausted," he says. "Well, that's because Z over here, kept me up until 2 in the morning!" I say in my very pissed off voice.

"Hey! I was talking to you! You could've stopped at any time!" Z says grumpily. We start walking to class, Z and Al to arithmancy, and Scor and I to Care of Magical Creatures. "See ya!" Z and Al wave back at me.

Care of Magical Creatures is an easy class. Professor Grubby-Plank teaches 3 and 4th years but Rubeus Hagrid teaches 5th-7th years. We go towards where a big group is huddled in a circle by the Forbidden Forest.

"'Ello," Hagrid begins, "Today you'll be in pairs, one boy and one girl, and you will each get a blast-ended skrewt. The object of this week's lesson is to keep this baby skrewt alive for the entire week." Scor and I look at each other and nod, agreeing that we will be partners for this project, it will be easy enough.

We go to the front to collect our skrewt and get to work. We set down our skrewt and stare at it. Hagrid comes up to us. "What exactly are we supposed to be doing?" Scor asks. "keepin' it alive o' course!" Hagrid exclaims. Right…how do we do that?

"Why don't yer start with comin' up with a name fer it?" he suggests. Scor and I look at each other and shrug. As Hagrid walks away we begin to discuss names. "Hyperion," Scor says. "No! that's your middle name we should come up with something more original!" "Like…" Scor trails off.

"Alzie!" "Alzie?" Scor says skeptically. "Ya like Albus and Mackenzie mixed together." I proclaim. Scor starts laughing "Ok, sure Alzie." Then we begin to talk, because, I mean really? All we have to do is keep it alive, that doesn't require much work, just feeding it really.

Suddenly Scor's wand slips from his grip and smashes Alzie. "Bloody hell!" I yell, "Scor we haven't had him more than an hour and you already killed him!"

Everyone looks at us. Whoops. Hagrid comes over " Er, yer might wanta get a new one, I'm gonna hafta mark ya off though." I roll my eyes, this is just great, another great thing to occur on this wonderful day.

"What?!" Scot hisses at me, "What do you want me to do? Bring him back from the dead? Get a time turner so I can go back and time and not smash him with my wand?"

"How do you even know if it was a him?" I yell "What if it was a girl?!" "What does it matter, Rose, it's just a blast ended skrewt!" I don't think my name had ever sounded so beautiful, but I was pissed off.

"No, it was Alzie! And you killed it!" "It? I thought you said it was a her!" Scor is shouting now. Shit, I don't want him to get mad at me, but by now I'm too wrapped up in my own anger.

"Whatever, Scor, just get a new freaking blast-ended skrewt and name it whatever the bloody hell you want to!" By now the whole class is pretending to not listen. I just roll my eyes. This is so stupid.

As soon as class is over, we have a free period, and Scor and I go back to the Gryffindor common room while fighting, which is an amazing feat. "You killed it! Now we're going to get points marked off! We didn't even have her an hour!" "Is it an it or a her, Rose, make up your mind! And so what if I killed it and we get a few points taken off? At least I didn't-" but Scor was cut off.

Z was sitting down the comfiest arm chair in the room and Al was standing beside her in shock. "Wow, you can totally feel the sexual tension in the room!" Z says casually.

I roll my eyes and hope they don't get stuck permanently. "Z there is _tension_ not sexual tension! Just because there is tension does not mean it's always sexual tension!" I scream at her too, just for good measure.

"Ahh but see, I get a sexual vibe from this tension" she declares. Merlin she's so stubborn.

"Really, Professor Trelawney? You get a sexual vibe?" Al questions while laughing.

"Yes and I can see into the future too!" Z says. She strides right up to me, "Show me your palm, I'll read your future". "Z, no I'm not going to have you read my palm and you'll make up some random mumbo jumbo about…" I start to complain.

"What, Rose, you scared?" Scor asks. I glare at him.

"Fine, here, take my bloody palm." I hand her my palm.

Z leans over and inspects my palm, running her fingers over the lines on my hand. "Ahh yes, I'm sensing something!... I see a Greek god in your future!" She yells and then smirks at me.

Greek god? Oh shit, she can't mean what I think she means. "What I'm going to be visited and impregnated by Zeus?" I question dumbly, looking at Al and Scor, who look just as confused as I do. But Z just continues to stare at me "No, not Zeus, but I think you know who I'm talking about." She winks.

Oh my Merlin. I described Scor as a Greek god once. Shit, she totally knows that I'm attracted to him!

But Z was already off to her next victim. "Ok, Z, try me what do you see in my future?" Scor smirks. She smirks right back at him "Hold out your, hand, O Jupiter, and I shall let you know." God I hope no one knows that Zeus's Roman name is Jupiter and she basically just said that Scor was my future. No one seems to notice, and Z looks a tad disappointed, but continues.

She inspects his palm too, running her fingers over the lines of his hand. "Mhmm just what I thought." she mumbles. "What?" Scor asks. "I see brown in your future!" She declares, "Lots and lots of brown!"

I'm sorry, brown? What does that have to do with anything? Brown is just a color! But Scor seems to understand something that Al and I don't know and goes a tad pink. Z smirks, mission accomplished, whichever mission that is."

Then Al interrupts my thoughts, "Ok, Z, so you've predicted a Greek god and brown, what about my future?" She looks at him, "Ok, hand out por favor." We all look at her again "Por favor?" I ask. "It means please in Spanish. Remember, I take Spanish over the summer."

Right, I'd forgotten about that, in Arizona, which is really close to Mexico,Muggle students learn to speak Spanish, while here in England they learn to speak French, Italian, or German.

Z inspects Al's palm this time, again running her fingers over his palm. Does she notice how he smiles at her?

"You're future is very interesting." Z whispers. "Interesting?" Al questions, "Really, how so?"

"I see blue laughter in your future." Z says. There eyes locks into a tense stare. Ok, I exchange a look with Scor even though I'm still mad at him. Seriously could they be any more obvious?

"So I'm going to be sad but laugh about it? Who put the Cheering charm on me?" Al jokes. Z laughs, too, "I only see outlines of the future in your palm, I know not the details!"

I laugh, well, the Oracle Z has spoken!

Then, she turns to me, "Come along Rosie Posey you are in a dire need for some chocolate!" She winks, at the boys then strides out of the room. I give Al a quick hug and Scor a quick glare. Haha serves him right for killing our blast-ended skrewt Alzie and then barging in on my future!

But, somehow, I wish that Z really did posses super-seeing-into-the-future-skills. As much as I hate Scor right now, I kind of wish that I could be sure that Scor would be in my future forever. I love him…wait what?? I love him?!?!

**

* * *

****A/N: super special thanks to my first reviewer, Marciabarcia. Actually this whole chapter is dedicated to you Cheers! Remember to REVIEW!!**

**~wwccd**


	6. Doom Day

All alone on a Sunday morning  
Outside I see the rain is falling  
Inside I'm slowly dying  
But the rain will hide my crying, crying, crying  
And you  
Don't you know my tears will burn the pillow  
Set this place on fire

--Allure

**Chapter 5---**

_**Mackenzie's **_**POV**

"Another Saturday night and I ain't got nobody! I got some money cuz I just got paid. Now how I wish I had someone to talk to. I'm in an awful way. Da Na Na Na Na na na!!!" Rose and I sing.

Rose and I sing quite well actually. Huh, maybe we should start a band. Just then Al interrupts my master plans "Um, you guys have a lot of people you could talk to, me, Scor, James, Fred, Lily, Hugo..."

I look down at Al and Scor who are playing Wizard's Chess. While Al's dad Mr. Potter, or Harry as he always tells me to call him, is terrible at chess, but Al's uncle Ron (and Rose's dad) is a very good player. Al seems to take after his uncle, and is playing really well. "Well, duh but that's not the point." I explain, "That song has the words Saturday night in it and its Saturday night!!"

"Congratulations, Kenzie you can count the days of the week!" I roll my eyes at him.

Suddenly, this annoying prick named Liam Prather came up to us, "Hey, Rose, hey Kenzie" he winks at me when he says this in his annoying prick-like manner.

I roll my eyes at him to show my disgust. "Don't call me Kenzie!" "Why not Kenzie, does it turn you on?" he laughs. "Haha you wish you could turn me on, Prather; only Al can call me Kenzie." At this Liam The Git turns and looks at Al. Al looks up at smiles at me. And totally ignores Liam. Whoo!! Go Al! You could totally kick Liam's butt…wait, they aren't fighting…and I'm cheering in my head…

I walk over to him and smile, "Whoo!! Go Al! You're gonna beat Scor at wizard's chess!!" Hopefully, The Prick gets the message and leaves. Al does beat Scor, check mate baby; I should bet on him sometime, I'd win a fortune! Luckily, The Great Prick leaves soon after that, hopefully getting the message that I DON'T FANCY HIM.

Then, Rose, Scor, Al and I spend some time wandering the Hogwarts corridors. Rose and Scor pretend to be on prefect duty and Al and I come along for the ride under the invisibility cloak.

We wander through the halls joking and laughing until one o clock in the morning, which, yes is way past curfew, which is at 10, and way past the time that Rose and Scor were supposed to be out doing "prefect duty".

I yawn. "Ok I think it's time to hit the hay." They all look at me like I'm crazy. Right, American expression they have no idea what the heck I'm saying. "I'm going to go to bed" I clarify. This, they understand and they all nod and grunt in agreement and we head back towards the Gryffindor dormitories. We say goodbye to the boys in the Gryffindor common room and use the invisibility cloak to sneak back into our dorm.

See, the boys roommates don't care if they come in late, but Sasha, Olivia, and Sophie would kill us if we came in after curfew. First, because they are jealous that we hang out with Scor and Al who are considered to be very attractive by the female population at Hogwarts, and second, because Sasha wants to take over Rose's role as a prefect and Olivia and Sophie would die (quite literally) to take my job as a beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Wait, but then they wouldn't be able to play because they're dead…but that's not the point!

Our Quidditch team looks pretty good this year, with the Almighty James Potter as our Captain leading us to victory with his intense practices. The positions are as follows: Al plays Seeker, Fred and I are the beaters, and Luka Vane (son of Romilda Vane and a Muggle man who left her when he found out she was a witch), Brody Jordan (son of Lee Jordan and Alicia Spinnet), and James are our chasers. Luckily the practices seem to be paying off and we're flying together really fluently this year.

As I snuggled into my nice warm bed, I forget what day tomorrow is, and my dreams begin.

* * *

The next morning as I wake up, I realize what today is; the third Sunday of the month. It's 4:30 in the morning, pourig down rain, and I have slept around 3 hours. I begin to cry, bawl actually. Tears stream down my face and I know it's no use. I just sit there and cry and cry. At some point, I realize that Rose has woken up and has her arms around me, yet my crying continues.

"I'm going to take you to the Room of Requirement, then I'll run and get you some water, or else you'll run out of tears to cry." Rose whispers to me. I give a little nod to show I understand, and Rose runs to her trunk and grabs the invisibility cloak that she borrowed from Al. She must have remembered to muffliato my bed until Sasha, Olivia and Sophie had gone to breakfast. Merlin, I love her.

She performs a quick silencing spell on me and I cry silently, tears still streaming down my face. She throws the cloak over me so I am invisible and we walk down the stairs to the Common Room. Luckily it is empty when we get there, and we quickly exit through the portrait.

She leads me up the stairs and I follow along clumsily, still managing to cry. When we reach the seventh floor, she passes a certain place 3 times, silently asking for my sanctuary. Finally, a door appears and we both enter.

Inside the door, the Room has transformed itself into my room at my muggle home. The walls are painted turquoise and black and my queen sized bed with my red comforter is in the middle. The ceiling is painted a navy blue, with stick on glow in the dark stars in the shape of the Scorpio constellation (to remind me of my friends). Even my bookshelves filled with my favorite muggle books are in place.

But, I already know where everything is and I collapse on the bed, still silently crying, and remove the invisibility cloak. And this time I just let it out, I don't try to muffle my crying or wipe my snot. Rose hugs me quickly and says softly "I'm just going to get you water, I'll be right back." I give her my small nod and she takes off the silencing charm and disappears. These walls are soundproofed by magic anyway.

I remind the Room to only let people I trust to enter, and I curl up into the fetal position and cry. I cry about everything, missing my family, the earthquake in Haiti that killed many that my daddy recently told me about, my dead grandparents, saying goodbye to my family, unrequited love, Rose being so kind to me, the evil in the world, cancer, innocent victims of terrible things, anything. I let all my tears, all my emotions, everything out.

The door opens, and I look up as Rose enters with the water that she demands (though nicely) that I drink. But behind her, someone else is there. She doesn't seem to sense his presence. SoI sit up and point at the figure behind her.

Al is standing behind Rose, staring, horror struck, as I continue to bawl my eyes out. I realize that he has never seen me cry. This makes me cry even harder, no one should see me cry. Crying shows weakness.

It only takes a second for him to react, "Kenzie?" he questions. As I cry I gasp for breath to try and answer him. I remember how much I love that he calls me a name no one else can. Rose says words for me "Al," she says quietly "You should really leave. You don't want to see her like this." Al looks at her defiantly. I cry. I love him, he's my bestest friend, he shouldn't see me like this.

But Al strides towards me and wraps me up in his strong embrace and lays me back down on my bed. I put my face in his shirt and cry. This time I cry for Al, for him to see me like this, I cry for Rose, she will have to explain, I cannot speak. He holds me tighter and smoothes my hair. "Shh, shh it's alright" he whispers. But it's not alright. He cannot see me cry.

Yet I can't pull away. I cry into his shirt for a long while, I know my tears are making stains on his shirt. Finally, towards noon, I begin to calm down a little. I look up and realize Rose has left, but Al, of course, is still here holding me in his arms. He looks down at me and asks if I am ready for some water. I attempt a smile which probably ended up more like a grimace and nod.

He hands me the cup and I drink it all. Afterwards, I begin to drift into a dreamless sleep, still in his arms.

I awaken around an hour later with tears on my face. The crying begins again and Al stays through it all. Doesn't he have something better to do on his Sunday then watch me cry? Not even Rose stays all the time.

As I calm down again, he offers me more water. Rose must have come in while I was asleep to supply me with more.

This time, however, after I drink the water I say croakily "I'm sure you want to know why I'm crying." He shrugs, "I can wait." "No," I say determinedly, "You need to know. I should start at the beginning." I lie down on the bed and get comfortable on my side, so I was looking at him. Al mirrors me so we are both lying down on the bed, looking at each other.

"As you know, I come from a Muggle family." I softly begin my story. Al nods to show he understands. "The Muggle world has its own culture. As you know from Muggle Studies, every culture has its own 'perfect vision', that is to say, a vision of a perfect person. In my family, I have a mother, a father and two brothers, Alexander and Nathaniel, who are better known to me as Mama, Daddy, Alex, and Nate. My dad and my brothers truly accept people for who they are. My mother, on the other hand, has issues with this. When I got my acceptance letter to Hogwarts, my whole family was ecstatic. My mom knew I was special and my dad and brothers just thought it was cool that I could do magic.

Before I got my letter to Hogwarts, we were a happy family. But one letter, one letter, changed my life, my entire family's life, and my mother's perspective. She began to visualize how I should look, how I should act, my future, my present, my life. She wanted me to do ballet lessons when I enjoyed jazz, she wanted me to sing opera, when I can only sing pop and R&B, she wanted me to be skinny as a stick, when I wanted to eat what I wanted to and have curves like a real woman, and she wanted me to write novels, when I like to write poems and songs.

One time, when I was around 12 years old, we got into a fight. It was so bad, I started crying. She told me that crying was a sign of weakness and no one should ever see me cry. She made fun of me because I was weak. I learned my lesson. So, from then on, I didn't cry in front of people. I held it in until I could be by myself. When I got to Hogwarts again, in time for 3rd year, I found it very hard to be by myself as often as I needed to cry. So I made myself a 'Doom Day'. Every 3rd Sunday of a month I lock myself in here, the Room of Requirement, which takes the room of my old room at my Muggle home and I cry myself out. So that no one has to see me cry.

It didn't take Rose long to find out, obviously because she's in the dormitory with me all the time and she when she realized what was happening like the smart girl she is, I told her my story. She deals with it the best she can. She always helps me, she was the first person I ever cried in front of that wasn't family. She is family now, I guess. Sometimes, she reminds me of the mother I used to have, before I received that letter." I finish my story solemnly.

Al just stares at me tenderly and brushes some hair out of my face. "You know," he says, "You can cry in front of me." I smile lightly at him "I trust you." He smiles at this and says, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

My eyes tear up again, and one tear escapes, "Hey, hey," Al brushes the tear away with his thumb, "I'm not mad at you." "I know," I whisper, "I'm sorry, I should have told you but I didn't want to burden you with my problems."

He stares straight into my eyes, "Feel free to burden me any time." I start to cry again, but this time the tears are tears of joy. "Did I say something wrong?" Al asks quickly, hugging me again.

"No, you said everything right." And he did. So he holds me and I cry and at the end of my Doom Day, I feel a lot lighter then I ever felt before.

**A/N: ok so I hope you like it, it shows a very different side of Z that I wanted to show you. Review and let me know what you thought! The next chap will prob be about Rose's POV through the Doom Day, just to show a little difference in perspective. This chap is dedicated to my reviewers!!! ****also, I'm thinking about naming a character after one of my dedicated readers…so start reviewing!**

**~wwccd**


	7. Doom Day Rose's POV

Oh, why you look so sad?

Tears are in your eyes  
Come on and come to me now.  
Don't be ashamed to cry,

let me see you through  
Cause I've seen the dark side too.  
When the night falls on you, you don't know what to do,  
Nothing you confess could make me love you less  
I'll stand by you

--The Pretenders

**Chapter 6---**

_**Rose's **_**POV**

After wandering throughout the halls all of Saturday nights, I had forgotten what the next day was to bring. I was awakened close to five o clock on Sunday morning by the sound of muffled crying. I quickly pictured the calendar in my head and realized it was the third Sunday in September, and Z was right on schedule.

I get myself out of bed, and take a quick peek at Sasha, Olivia, and Sophie. They're still fast asleep. I get my wand and cast a fast muffliato spell around Z's bed so no one hears her.

I quickly hold Z in my arms and do my best to soothe her. I never seem to be able to do so and I just end up watching her cry and feel helpless as I hold her in my arms. From experience, I know that Z can cry for hours on end on her Doom Days. My theory is that she keeps it all pent up most of the time that when she does actually cry and let her sad emotions out, she can't stop herself.

Around 8 o clock Sasha, Olivia and Sophie wake up and begin their morning routine. I wait patiently for them to finish and leave for breakfast. Once they have finally left the dormitory, I whisper to Z "I'm going to take you to the Room of Requirement, then I'll get you some water, or else you'll run out of tears to cry." She attempts to nod while crying, and I take this as her consent.

I quickly throw on a robe and throw my hair up, then grab the invisibility cloak that I borrowed from Al and send a short prayer to whoever is listening that we don't encounter anyone on the way to the Room.

I look at Z and realize that I must perform a silencing charm on her so that she won't blow her cover while under the invisibility cloak. I do this quickly and then lead her towards the dormitory door. Somebody above must be watching over us, because the common room is empty when we step inside.

I quickly lead her out through the portrait door and we head up the stairs to the seventh floor. Once, we get near the Room of Requirement I walk past a certain place three times, asking for the certain Room that Z needs, her muggle room at home.

When the door appears we both enter. Her room looks just as I've entered it before. Turquoise and black walls with a blood red duvet on her queen sized bed. Her ceiling is painted a dark blue, like the nighttime sky and the stick on glow-in-the-dark stars are in the Scorpion constellation.

Z runs forward and lies down on her bed, still crying silently. She removes the invisibility cloak and I see her face is red from crying so hard and her eyes still emitting tears quickly. "I'm just going to get you water, I'll be right back." I whisper to her.

She gives her small nod showing me she understands and I run off in the direction of the kitchens.

As I get to the picture that leads to the secret passageway of the kitchens, I tickle the pear. At first, I thought this was weird, I mean tickle the pear? But now I'm use to it and I rush quickly down the hall to the kitchens. My Uncle Harry's house-elf, Kreacher still works at Hogwarts, and generally helps us out if we ever need anything from the kitchens.

Unfortunately, as soon as I enter the kitchens Scor and Al happen to be eating brunch, they must have slept in late and missed breakfast. Lazy arses.

"Hey Rose," Scor greets me. "What brings you to the kitchen this wonderful day?" Wonderful day? I hate these days, I feel so bad for Z and I can't do anything for her.

"Oh, you know," I answer vaguely. Al raises his eyebrows at me, disbelieving. Growing up with Al, since we are so close in age, we have always been put together. He knows me very well, so well, that it often scares me. Scor and Z know me well too but Al is family, he has his built-in radar.

Scor shrugs, "Well let me know what's going on when you decide to tell me." He says continuing to eat his sandwich. Al gives me a piercing look, trying do decide whether he should let me go without interrogating me. Finally, he shrugs and goes back to his sandwich. Thank Merlin; I quickly ask Kreacher for a glass of water.

As Kreacher hands me a glass of water, I realize that Al is still watching me critically. He must know something is up. "Where's Kenzie" he asks. "Sleeping still, you know how she is on Sundays" I improvise. Then, "Well I got to go, just needed some water!" And I dash out of the room.

I quickly rush up the stairs to the Room, desperate to get back to Z before the worst comes. I open the door, and she attempts to sit up while crying. She seems to see something behind and me and shakily points a finger. I turn around, Al, of course is standing there. His mouth is agape and I realize, at the same time as Z, he has never seen he cry before. Z starts crying even harder.

Al composes himself, "Kenzie?" he sounds appalled. Z attempts to breathe and answer him. He can't see her like this, she won't let him. "Al," I attempt to regain his attention quietly, "You should really leave. You don't want to see her like this." Al glares at me, nothing will get through to him. He crosses the room quickly, and wraps Z up in a strong embrace and lays her on the bed.

She buries her head in his chest, crying into his shirt. I stand, watching mesmerized as my sixteen year old cousin comforts Z in a way only he could. Al holds Z tighter and starts whispering reassurances in here ear. She continues to cry, she obviously doesn't want him to leave.

The Room conjures a chair for me to sit in and I take a seat. I watch the way Al cares for Z, he really loves her. After about an hour or so, I realize Scor must be wondering where we are. I catch Al's eyes and motion to him to let him know I have to find Scor. He nods slightly. I doubt Z even realizes what is happening, she's still crying.

As I exit the Room, I head towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Scor is in the comfiest arm chair, reading. "Whatcha reading?" I ask. He sternly looks at me. Whoops, he's still upset. "Look, I'm sorry about the Alzie thing, I was just stressed." He rolls his eyes, "That's not what I wanted to know about." He clarifies.

"I know," I answer him quietly. "What's going on with Z? Why does she disappear every 3rd Sunday? Did Al figure it out? Why won't you tell me? Do you trust me? Is it because I'm a Malfoy?"

His asks a barrage of questions. I roll my eyes, "Scor, we don't care that you're a Malfoy. And this thing has nothing to do with trusting you. Yes, Al found out what was going on my following me." I gulp as I continue to answer his last question, "And I really wish I could tell you what is going on, but it's not my secret to tell, its Z's." I say quietly.

He studies me critically. Jeez what is with people doing that today? "How about some wizard's chess?" Scor suggests. I smile at him. In one short conversation, we have stopped fighting, "Definitely, I'm always ready to beat your arse at wizard's chess!" He smirks, "We'll see about that."

We continue to play and laugh and chat for the rest of the day. "Hey, I have a question for you." I tell Scor. He raises his eyebrows, letting me continue. "What did Z mean when she told you that your future consisted of lots and lots of brown?"

He looks slightly uncomfortable, "I'm not sure." This time I get to eye him critically. Mwahaha I feel evil. Then he looks at me "What did she mean by saying that there would be a Greek god in your future?" Damn.

"Well I guessed being visited and impregnated by Zeus, but she said it was a different god; so maybe Poseidon or Apollo?" I suggest. He laughs "Maybe. Our Z is something else isn't she?"

"Most definitely." I agree with him. "But that is why we love her."

Scor stares at me. "What?" I ask. "Nothing," Scor whispers. Huh, wonder what that was about, guys are so weird.

Oh shit! Z probably needs some water. I make up some random excuse to Scor about going to the loo and quickly head towards the kitchens again. When I reach the Room, Z is sleeping and Al still has her in his arms. I quietly set down the glass of water on the bedside table. Al looks up at nods at me, saying hello silently so as not to wake Z.

I decide to say something, "You love her." I state the obvious. Al stares at me. "As more than a friend" I clarify. "It's obvious." Al looks down at Z to make sure she isn't awake and listening to the conversation. He looks back at me, "Yeah," he whispers.

"Tell her." I say. He looks at me, his face twisted in pain and disbelief "No, she only likes me as a friend!" I roll my eyes, "She loves you too."

"Has she told you this directly?" He questions. Damn. No, no she hasn't, I improvise, "She let you see her cry." He looks confused, "So what?" I gaze at Z, "She rarely ever lets anyone see her cry. I've only seen her cry because I found out about it by myself."

Now he looks confused, "Found out about what?" "That's her secret to tell, not mine. But trust me; this is a really big step for Z. She loves you. She trusts you. She wants _you_. Say something before she begins to think that _you _only like her as a friend." Then, I exit the Room to leave Al with his own thoughts.

I race back to the Common Room. "Scor! We have prefect duty again tonight!" I exclaim. "I know" he replies. "Look! It's 7! We have to go on patrol!"

Scor and I walk through the halls in silence for awhile. Then, we run into some unexpected visitors. "Hey Al, hey Z," we say in unison to the figures coming towards us. Z looks a lot better; you can't even tell she was crying except for a little redness around her eyes. Whenever she isn't looking, Al looks at her as if she will collapse at any moment

Z waves and smiles, "Hey guys, long time no see!" I laugh, glad for her to be done with her Doom Day. She seems tired, though, and sways a little. Al adjusts his position as if to catch her if she decides to fall. I smile softly at them, loving how cute they look together.

"You guys should be off then," Scor says, "before a professor comes by and sees you out." They nod and wave goodbye to us.

"Z looks horrible." Scor notes quietly as they leave. I glance up at him, "She looked worse before." I say my voice cracking. He looks at me half sympathetically, half curiously. "What happened to her?"

"I-I can't" I start fiddling with the curtains we we're looking behind, looking for people behind them.

"Say anything, I know," he finishes. Then he holds his arms open and I jump into them and bury my face in his chest. This time, I cry. I cry in Scor's arms, behind the curtains. I cry for Z who is hurt so deeply, I cry for Al who tries to pick up her pieces, I cry for Scor who doesn't know anything except that I need him now. I cry because crying is expected when you are sad, and I'm so sad.

I pull back from Scor and wipe my tears off my face. "Thanks" I say as I look at the ground. "I needed that." He nods. He cups my face and tilts my chin upwards, so I'm looking at me. My breath catches, and he stares into my eyes. His eyes are so grey. They stare at me intensely his thumbs wiping the remaining tears off of my face. It feels like we are the only people in the world.

Suddenly, there's a huge crash and we both look up.

James and Fred are standing with their backs towards us and seem to be looking at a plan for one of their pranks. The loud crash was Fred dropping the box of supplies on the ground. I glance at Scor, he puts one finger to his lips and I nod in understanding. We wait a few minutes and then jump out of the curtains "Gotcha!" we scream in unison.

Both James and Fred jump straight up. We begin to laugh. Then James and Fred realize it's me and Scor and start telling us about their master prank that Z helped them plan.

I realize how great my life is. I have cousins and friends who bring joy into my life. And I'm pretty sure that was an almost-kiss between me and Scor. Al and Z seem to be closer to getting together than ever. And in the dim light, as my cousins tell us the plan involving flying pigs, I keep stealing glances at Scor and thank whoever is watching over me.

**A/N: ok, I hope you like this. It's basically Rose's POV of the last chap. I thought it was kind of necessary. Next chap will be back in Z's POV. I just realized while I was writing this that I have no idea where I'm going with this story, so I'm just going to wing it. :) Please review!! **

**~wwccd**


	8. Bee Happy!

**Here's a little song I wrote  
You might want to sing it note for note  
Don't worry, be happy.  
In every life we have some trouble  
But when you worry you make it double  
Don't worry, be happy.  
Don't worry, be happy now.**

**-Bobby McFerrin**

**Chapter 7---**

_**Mackenzie's **_**POV**

I wake up feeling refreshed. Yesterday was quite terrible, but everything seemed to work out for the better. Rose always treats me extra nicely after my Doom Day. It's unnecessary, I'm not fragile. But, hey, I'm not complaining. So instead of hitting me with her pillow, she sings to me to wake up.

"Oh what a beautiful morning!" Rose sings.

"Oh what a beautiful day!" I sing back to her.

"I've got a wonderful feeeling..Everythign's going my waay!" We sing together.

"Oh what a beautiful morning, oh whata beautiful day! I've got a wonderful feeling..Everything's going my waay" We're singing and jumping on our beds with delight now. Then, Rose realizes the time, "Shit, Z we're going to be late!"

Aren't we always?

We rush and get ready then practically sprint to the Great Hall. We have around 15 minutes before breakfast ends. Perfect. Scor and Al are already there and glance up at us as we sit down. "Where have you guys been?" Scor asks.

Rose and I giggle, "Singing." As if it's perfectly normal that we're late for breakfast because we were singing.

"Really?" this amuses them. "Yes, do you want to hear us sing?" I ask. "No!" Rose exclaims, we have 13 minutes for breakfast now and we're in the Great Hall!" Rose is just self- conscious, but she shouldn't be she's an amazing singer.

"So? James and Freddie sing in the Great Hall all the time!" I smile sweetly at her.

"Just eat your breakfast, Z" she rolls her eyes at me. I roll my eyes back at her, "We'll sing for you guys later."

Then I realize that I should probably tell Scor about everything. I try to catch his attention, but he's too busy staring at Rose. Haha I remember my fortune telling genius, I mean brown, he understood it but no one else did!

***Flashback***

Scor and I were working on our potion for Professor Smith. Today, we were working on Veritaserum, the truth telling potion. Our potion was perfect, because we were just so brilliant. (At this point I hear Al mocking me and telling how modest I am)

We were done early, so we decided to try it out on each other. "I'll go first," Scor said. And after he had taken the potion I started questioning him.

"Do you like anyone?" I smirk. "Yes."

Hmmm interesting… I decide to let it slide just for now, give him a sense of false security. "What is your favorite place in the whole wide world?"

"The Burrow." I'm sort of surprised at this, I mean Scor loves his parents, and his parents love him but they have a strange relationship and Scor spends a lot of time with Al and Rose over our breaks. I nod.

"What's your favorite color?" I ask him an easy question.

"Brown." He quickly replies. Wait, brown I thought his favorite color was red! Brown is the color of dirt, and mud (I know, same thing), and gross things.

"Why brown?" I ask, "I thought your favorite color was red."

"It was, but brown's the color of…"he trails off; the potion must have worn off, but not before I see him looking at Rose. Ahh now that explains mucho. I smirk at him.

"Right, ok your turn." Scor hastily says.

***End Flashback***

Ahh that was great geniusness on my part. While walking to class, I pull Scor aside, "I need to tell you something later". He nods to show he understands and we continue walking.

Classes go by quickly today and I realize that we've almost been at school for a month! Oh how time flies! At the end of the day, I pull Scor aside in the Common Room while Rose and Al are playing wizard's chess.

"Ok, so you have been kept in the dark long enough." I state. He just looks at me. "Ok so here goes…" I relay my entire story to him and he just stares at me, his serious facial expression never changing.

At the end of my story he says, "You know, my grandparents told me the same thing." I look at him in surprise. "But crying does not make you weak. It makes you human." I just look at him. "Just something to consider." He says.

We rejoin Al and Rose who seem to be in a stalemate. Then, Scor says something, "I thought you guys were going to sing for us!"

And everything was back to normal. Have I mentioned that I love my friends? "We're in the middle of a game!" Rose protests. I pull her up, "Come on Rosie Posey our lovely little boys would like us to sing for them! And plus, your game is obviously a stalemate!"

"What do you guys want to hear?" I ask them. They look at each other, they have no idea. "How about what we were singing this morning?" I suggest. They nod.

"Ok Rosie, you ready?" Then we begin to sing Oh What a Beautiful Morning,even though it's night, our voices harmonizing and sounding quite amazing if I can say so myself. At the end, they clap and whoop and we smile and bow. Then, I realize the whole common room is looking at us.

"Let's start a karaoke!" I exclaim! "Z, you're the only one here that can sing" Rose says.

"Oh pish posh," I wave my hand to show that is ridiculous "Ro I'm not that great of a singer, I just like having fun. It doesn't matter if you can't sing, as long as you're having fun!!" I'm really excited now.

The Common room titters. "Ok, fine, how about I go first, and you guys see if you want to do it." Wait, crap, what am I gonna sing?

"What should I sing?" I quickly ask my friends. "Haven't thought this one totally through have you, Kenzie?" Al asks. I stick my tongue out at him. "Sing something you wrote." He says it as if it were obvious. "Oh, I don't know," I begin to protest.

"Ooo yes! They won't know the difference anyway," Rose says, waving her hand. Okay, fine, have it your way.

"Are you guys ready?" I ask. People start clapping, and I take that as a yes. I accio my guitar from my dormitory and begin to play and sing.

_Won't be so easy,  
This time to hurt me,  
You can try,  
And this time Oh Baby,  
There are no tears left here to dry,  
If you think you can wound me like before  
If you think you can do that anymore,  
Won't get too far,  
NO!  
_

_You Can't Break A Broken Heart,  
So try your best now baby,  
Try your best to break me,  
You can't break a broken heart,  
No damage you can do now,  
I'm immune to you now,  
You can't break what broke apart,  
There's nothing you can do to me no more,  
You can't break a broken heart._

Hurt me before now,  
Won't hurt no more now,  
Not this time,  
You might do better,  
Messing with someone else's mind,  
Cause You're not gonna bring me down again,  
You're done with throwing me the way you did,  
It's gone too far eh,

_You Can't Break A Broken Heart,  
So try your best now baby,  
Try your best to break me,  
You can't break a broken heart,  
No damage you can do now,  
I'm immune to you now,  
You can't break what broke apart,  
There's nothing you can do to me no more,  
You can't break a broken heart.__. _

Still don't means to your time,  
Your time has come and gone,  
What are you here for,  
You can't hurt me anymore,  
So try your best now baby,  
Try your best to break me,  
You can't break the broken heart,  
No damage you can do now,  
I'm immune to you now,  
You can't break what broke apart,  
There's nothing you can do to me no more,  
You can't break a broken heart.

So try your best now baby,  
Try your best to break me,  
You can't break a broken heart,  
No damage you can do now,  
I'm immune to you now,  
You can't break what broke apart,  
There's nothing you can do to me no more,  
You can't break a broken heart.

Break a broken heart

I finish quietly. It's quiet for a while and I look up. Then the clapping begins. It's loud and I smile at them. "See? It's fun!" I exclaim.

Sasha, Olivia and Sophie come up and begin to sing. They're um…yeah pretty terrible, but no one seems to care.

I walk back to Al, Rose, and Scor. "I think we should do this every week!" I smile at them. Oh, no, they're staring at me. Why? Why? Why are they staring at me? "What?" I ask.

"That was really good, Z" Rose says. I just chuckle incredulously, "Right, ok, now do you think Professor Williams will let us do this every week?" Professor Williams is the head of the Gryffindor House. They shake their heads at me. "Even if I ask really nicely?" I complain.

"Professor Williams loves you, I'm sure he would let you do this every week." Rose answers for them again. Ok…then. Rose and Scor go off to play more wizards' chess while listening to brave people sing.

"Who was that song about, Kenzie?" Al asks whispers into my ear, I shiver; I'm sitting right beside him on the couch. "Well…a lot of people, the people who broke my heart, like little Tommy Turner in kindergarten who said I was ugly for one," I start to joke, but when I look at Al I realize that he's serious.

"My mom, mostly," I answer. He eyes me critically, "You know, I kind of want to kick her ass." My eyes widen and a giggle escapes my mouth. That coming from Al shocks me, he's so sweet! "Al, you're too sweet for your own good. But that's one of the reasons why I love you." I kiss his cheek, then say, "Come on, I bet that our little Rosie will beat Scor this time."

I was right, Rose did beat Scor. Huh, maybe I should talk to Professor Trelawney; I'm beginning to think that I have The Eye.

* * *

The sun shines brightly, it is afternoon and Al and I are sitting in the grass by the Black Lake. We're joking and laughing, chatting about nothing in particular, just enjoying the time we spend together.

I sigh, "Al, I'm bored let's do something!" He laughs at me, "We have been doing something, silly!" then he pokes my stomach. I squirm and he raises his eye brows. "You ticklish there Kenzie?" he asks inquisitively. "Pshh, Pshh, No. I am not ticklish!" I protest.

"Oh really?" he asks. Then his hands are on my stomach, tickling me. "No, no, stop!" I scream while laughing. "Not until you say Al is my bestest, hottest, nicest, friend in the entire universe!" He says. "Haha nooo haha ok, fine. Al is my bestest, hottest, nicest, friend in the whole entire universe!" I scream.

He brings his face close to mine, "Now, that's more like it." Our eyes lock into an intense stare and our faces both move forward an inch. I stare into is his green, mesmerizing eyes, and I feel my heart start to race faster, like I can't get enough oxygen. I'm grateful I'm still lying down because I feel my knees weaken. He brings his hands to my face and…

Just then, a pillow hits me. "Rise and shine sleeping beauty, we've got classes today!" Rose says.

**A/N: ok I hope you guys like this chap…you finally get to know about the dreams!! ****LISTEN UP THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS IMPORTANT!!!! : I have decided that in order to put up the next chapter, I would like 5 reviews!! Do not let me down! Tell me anything you like, dislike, or any questions you have about my story. Also, I have started a new story it's called According to Lily and is a Lily/James fic. Please check it out! Finally, the song above that Z sang/wrote does not belong to me! The real song is You Can't Break a Broken heart by Kate Voegele, so props to her! So remember, 5 reviews until you get the next chapter! Cheers,**

**~wwccd**


	9. Love is in the Air

Love is in the air  
Everywhere I look around  
Love is in the air  
Every sight and every sound

And I don't know if I'm being foolish  
Don't know if I'm being wise  
But it's something that I must believe in  
And it's there when I look in your eyes

--John Paul Young

**Chapter 8---**

_**Rose's **_**POV**

I'm meandering down the hall with Z. We are incredibly bored. In fact, we are so bored it should be illegal to be this bored. It's a Wednesday afternoon in early October and we've have done all of our homework, gossiped about how amazing Z's Karaoke Nights are going, wondered where the hell our other two best friends are, talked to James and Fred, and now we were seriously considering talking to Lily and Hugo, even though they're fifth years because that's just how pathetically bored we are.

Suddenly, a beacon of holy shining light opens up from above, shining upon us. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Z asks.

"If what your thinking involves heading out to the Black Lake and thinking up a prank to play on our lovely bestest mates who seem to have ditched us; then yes, I do believe we're thinking the same thing." I say in reply, as I'm looking out the window that looks down on the Black Lake.

Z smiles wickedly, she really shouldn't do that, it scares the living shit out of me. "I was thinking more along the lines of visiting Professor Trelawney to see if I have The Eye, but that works out better." She's smiles mischievously and pulls me outside.

For some reason, Z is convinced that she has The Eye. She made up some bogus fortunes, and predicted that both Al and I would beat Scor in wizards' chess and Presto! She has The Eye. She's a strange one…that Z.

Suddenly, Z stops short. I look at her and see that she's staring at something. Under our favorite tree, Al and Scor sit. Al is talking about something and waving his hand around, showing that he is really into what he's talking about. I nudge Z. She looks at me, winks, and then puts her finger to her lips, motioning me to be quiet, and we quickly change direction, going up behind the tree so we can hear what they're talking about.

"…I don't know, Scor" Al was saying "I mean sometimes it seems like, like it could work out, but I don't know. We have a lot to lose if it goes south." Hmm… interesting what on earth could they be talking about? I look at Z, just as she turns her head toward me, and she looks just about as baffled as I am. She shrugs, and then leaps out from behind the tree.

"What would you lose if what went south?" she asks. Al looks startled and blushes just the tiniest bit.

"How long have you been listening?"

"All I heard was 'I don't know, Scor, I mean sometimes it just seems like, like it could work out, but I don't know. We have a lot to lose if it goes south.' Does it have something to do with the Quidditch strategies we've been working on?" she says all of this really fast.

Ok, first how did she memorize what he said? I only remembered the gist of it! And secondly, why did she give him a way out? It was so much more fun to watch him sweat because if my cousinly instincts are right, (and they usually are), I'm pretty sure he wasn't talking about Quidditch.

But Al just nods hastily "Yeah, I mean what if the new strategies throw us off balance?"

Just then, James and Fred come out from behind the tree. "They won't!" James said confidently. Al rolls his eyes. Fred decides to back James up "They won't!" he echoes.

"That's what I said!"

"So? I was just saying it again for further confirmation."

"Well, don't it sounds stupid."

Just then, James and Fred's friends Frank Longbottom and Owen Layne came up to our group. "Guys," Frank said to James and Fred, "stop fighting in front of the ladies, it's rude." He winks at me and Z in a friendly manner.

"Hey Frank, hey Owen" we say to them. "Long time no see!" Frank smiles at us "I know Rose; it's been forever since that prefect meeting!" I roll my eyes.

Frank is Head Boy this year, and joining him as Head girl is Laure Finnegan (daughter of Seamus Finnegan, who shared a dorm with my dad and Uncle Harry during their Hogwarts careers). Just then, two more people join our group, Lauren (haha I was just thinking about her!) and Alice Longbottom, Frank's twin and object of James' affections for about a year and half now.

What is this; Invasion of the seventh years? Now Al, Scor, Z and I stood with James, Fred, Frank, Owen, Lauren, and Alice. Now, personally I think good old Frank has a thing for Lauren, which makes these seventh year love lives even more complicated. So James and Alice have a thing, even if they don't know the other likes them. Fred, James, Owen and Frank are best friends, so James is a lot like Uncle Harry, fancying his best friend's younger sister (even if it is only by 8 minutes). Owen, I believe, has a ickle tiny bitty think (by which I mean major crush, on Lilly) again, vice versa, so Lily is channeling her dear mum, Aunt Ginny, and crushing majorly on her older brother's best friend. So, in short the couples will be:

James/Alice

Frank/Lauren

Owen/Lily

And Fred/???

Hmm…I'm curious now. I must find out who Fred fancies. As I am considering this, Lily and Hugo enter our quickly growing group. "We decided that since practically our whole family is here, we might as well join the group" Lily declares.

"Lils, this isn't even a tiny ickle bit of our family!" I laugh.

"Yeah, well, it's close enough." Lily says. Owen laughs and says "Tiger Lily, if this is close to having your whole family here, I can't even imagine what getting your whole family together is like!"

She sticks her tongue out at him "Yes you can, you come over to our house during the Easter hols every year!"

I laugh at their bickering. I turn to James to see if he's noticed how deeply in love with each other they are, but no such luck he's boasting to Alice about an idea that he, Fred, and Z have for a prank.

Just then, Z clears her throat and says "I have an announcement to make!" We all look at her expectantly. "As you all know, our lovely Head Boy and Girl, Frank and Lauren over here, have decided to throw a Halloween ball in just a few short weeks!" Frank and Lauren groaned and shook their heads.

"Ok, well, I guess you guys didn't know, but you do now." Z says as James and Fred start jumping up and down and Owen watches them, amused. "Anyway, Frank and Lauren hadn't decided who to pick for the entertainment at the ball." Now we're all curious as to what Z is going to say; even Frank and Lauren look intrigued. She smiles smugly at us. "I believe McGonagall told you guys," she said while motioning her hands to show that she was talking about Frank and Lauren, "that she had an idea as to who could provide the entertainment for the ball, but she had to check with someone first."

Frank and Lauren nodded. Hmm…who could Z be talking about? Then, it hit me! "No!" I scream excitedly while smiling at her. "Oh my gosh, Z that is so amazing!" "I know!" she screams right back at me and we begin to jump up and down, giggling.

"Umm…as much as we hate to interrupt your jump up and down and giggle at the same time fest," Al says "we still have no idea what Z is talking about." "Oh, right," we look back at everyone and Z continues, "Well, you see, Professor McGonagall seems to have heard about my Karaoke Nights that occur once a week at the Gryffindor Tower. Alice, Lauren and Lily gasp, I think they're beginning to get the direction of our thoughts, but James, Fred, Scor, Al, Frank, and Owen still seem lost.

"In short, she asked me to perform a couple songs during the ball and we could open it up into a Karaoke!" She finishes smiling.

All the boys whoop and congratulate her. "And Rosie," Z apparently isn't done with her news, "I mentioned that you and I sing together quite often," Oh crap. Shit, crap, mother of all that is holy, no. "And she said you could join me for a few songs!

She smiles at me expectantly, and I smile back at her. If I pretend like I don't have stage fright, maybe I'll get over it. "Then I guess we have some work to do, don't we Z?" I ask.

"Yay! I'm so glad that you're gonna sing a few with me!" Z yells. I roll my eyes at her, "Of course I will, but wait, how many songs are you going to sing?" "McG said between 12 and 15 songs, whichever I choose." "McG?" al asks.

"Oh, come on, isn't everyone tired of saying McGonagall?" We all laugh and us girls start talking about the ball.

"Obviously, it's a costume ball because its going to be held on Halloween night," Lauren is explaining to us, "you can go with dates, but its not required because the ball is for all the years. First and Second years curfew is at 9, third and fourth years is at 10 and fifth through seventh years curfew is midnight."

Lily squeals at this, "yes! I have the same curfew as you guys!" We all smile at her and start talking about what costumes we're going to get for the ball.

When there is a lull in our conversation, I hear a little tiny piece of what the boys' conversation is. "We have to pull something great." James is saying "this ball has to be legendary." Al and Scor are looking half bored, half amused, and Frank, Fred and Owen are looking very excited. What on earth are they getting up to? "We'll have to talk to Z…" James breaks off when he catches me staring. I squint my eyes at him, trying to figure out what they were talking about, but I soon give up and turn back to the girls.

"So," Z says, "I assume that Lauren will go with Frank, Alice will go with James, Lily will go with Owen if he picks up the courage to ask her out, Freddie will go with Emma Sterling, and Rosie will go with Scor, but who will I go with?"

We all stare at her. "What? What did I say?" We mutter something to the boys, something along the lines of going to the loo, and all stand up and pull Z along with us, looking confused.

"What are you on about?" we all ask at the same time. She scoffs "Well it's obvious you guys are all head over heels for each other" she says while rolling her eyes. I'm not that obvious, am I? I mean yeah, I hang out with Scor a lot, but he's my mate and we have prefect duty together, and we both enjoy hanging out with each other.

Lauren, Alice and Lily seem to be completely immersed in their own thoughts as well while Z pretends to pick some lint off of her robe. "You don't think James knows do you?" Lily says suddenly. "Knows that Alice loves him as much as he loves her or knows that you and Owen are completely in love?" Z asks.

"Well, both, but I really wanted to know about me and Owen." Lily says quietly while she blushes. "Well, I could totally tell, but I think James was too busy flirting with Alice to notice you and Owen practically unclothing each other with your eyes." Z says.

Lauren and I burst out laughing as Alice and Lily turn bright red. "But never fear, you lot, your guys will get the courage to ask you sometime. It might be helpful if you give them a couple hints along the way, though. My personal favorite hint is grabbing him unexpectedly then throwing him into a broom cupboard and snogging him senseless, but hey that's just me." She smiles at us while she says this.

"So, Z" I say casually "is that what you're going to do to Al as soon as he enters the common room tonight?" I tease.

She looks away and I realize she's staring out the window that looks down upon the Black Lake. "Ha, I wish," she shakes her head, "It wouldn't work out between us." We all look at her like she's crazy. "Z, he's completely head over heels for you," Lily says, "I would know, I'm his little sister."

Z smiles a little and looks thoughtful. "Well, maybe, but I don't want to scare him away now, do I?" she says as she winks at us.

Then, something hits me. "Z?" I ask.

"Hmm?"

"Who's Emma Sterling?"

"Pretty blond quiet girl who sits two rows in front of us in Potions." She replies

"How long as our dear old Freddie liked her?"

"Since we played a prank on her and she slapped him on the face so hard he had an imprint of her hand on his face for about two hours." She says laughing.

I laugh with her, "tough Love." I say and she nods in agreement.

The rest of the night passes pretty much uneventfully. Lauren, Alice, Lily, Z, and I gossiped more about our boys and the ball for a while, and then Z and I left to start coming up with the list of songs that she would sing.

Before falling asleep that night, however, I seriously considered going for Z's plan. Just walking up to Scor, pulling him into a broom closet, and snogging him senseless. I could do it during prefect rounds…I shook my head. Z was delusional; I mean she was right about James and Alice, Frank and Lauren, and Lily and Owen, but definitely wrong about me and Scor. It would never work out.

But that night, all my dreams consisted of him, and when I woke up, I realized that I definitely liked him as more than a friend. I'm about to throw my pillow to wake Z up, but I decide on singing instead, maybe today will be the day.

* * *

**A/N: yay! i hope you like this chapter! thank yout to my reviewers! For the next chapter...would you please give me 3 reviews? it only takes 30 seconds and is greatly appreciated!! I hope my babbling during the whole 7th year love drama is understandable...let me know if it isn't andi'll try to explain it better! coming up on TBofF:**

**Hogsmeade Trip**

**and a Halloween ball!! :) be ready!**

**~wwccd**


	10. It's Hogsmead day! Hip, Hip, Hooray!

_It's Hogsmead day, _

_Not even McGonagall's gonna stand in our way_

_on Hogsmead Day!_

_Hip, Hip, Hooray!_

_~Rose and Z_

**Chapter 9---**

_**Mackenzie's **_**POV**

Rose wakes me up by singing again. This time, our song is an original. "It's Hogsmead day!!!" Rose sings.

I open my eyes and smile, then sing back to her, "Not even McGonagall's gonna stand in our way….on Hogsmead day!"

"Hip, Hip, Hooray!" we sing together.

We laugh and then race to the shower to get ready, it appears that Sasha, Olivia and Sophie have already left, making this day even better. I begin to plan in my head where I want to spend my day, in Hogsmead. First, James, Freddie and I have to make a trip to Uncle George's shop (he's not really my uncle, he's James, Al, Lily, Roses' and Hugo's though, so that's just what I call him). Next, Rosie and I must go costume shopping for the upcoming Halloween Ball!! I have to have an outfit to go on stage on (McG won't let me go in my costume) and then an actual costume to wear when everyone else will be providing the entertainment, dong karaoke.

Rose and I dress quickly in our Muggle clothes and put on the slightest bit of makeup (which is basically just some mascara and chap stick). I look Rose up and down, "You look beautiful, dahling," I say "Scor will get a hard-" but I'm cut off as she slaps her hand across my mouth and giggles. I stick my tongue out and lick her palm. She just rolls her eyes, damn. I slap her hand away. "Such dirt thoughts, Rosie, I was only going to say that Scor will get a hard time from the other boys that he still hasn't asked you out." Now she rolls her eyes. Fine, doubt me if you must.

Rose is wearing a beautiful dark green baby doll top with thick straps paired with dark wash jeans and some black converse. Her hair is down in its shimmering brown waves, and her eyes look excited. She carries around a big, black purse, that is chic, yet not flashy. Simple, but gorgeous, just like Rose.

Rose smiles and looks me up and down as well. "Well, I could say the same for you" she says "Al is going to want to drag you into a deserted corner and snog you senseless."

Haha, I wish. I look down at my outfit. I'm wearing dark wash skinny jeans with a white flowy, long tank top, and on top of that a black cardigan, on my feet I wear about knee high black, flat boots, and my highlights in my hair, my nails, and my big purse are all red, and my hair is curled instead of its usual straightness. Al, eat your heart out.

I smile lightly at Rose, and we head out to the common room to meet up with our boys. But, before we get there, we have a run in with Sasha, Olivia and Sophia in the stairwell.

Sasha rolls her eyes at us "Well, if it isn't the little sluts. All dolled up and ready to go to Hogsmead in their slutty outfits." Ok, can she at least be original? I mean, sluts, then slutty outfits? And, what a hypocrite! The skirt she's wearing shouldn't even be called a skirt, its more like a piece of fabric that barely covers her arse!

I smirk at her, "Hmm…and yet, who has the reputation of being a slut?" I ask. I figure that I might as well give her some of her own medicine.

She glares at me, "At least I go for the guys I like. I don't pine after them silently. You two are such poor souls with your unrequited love." Ouch, I take that wish back. I don't want her to be anymore creative!

I just roll my eyes at her and say, "That's pathetic." And grab Roses' hand and pull her down the remaining stairs into the common room. The boys are sitting in armchairs waiting for us. Rose looks at me worriedly.

"What's wrong" Scor asks, noticing Rose's mood almost immediately. "Nothing, we just had a tiny run in with Sasha." I say.

Al looks at us, "What did she say this time?" "Nothing even worth repeating, she's pathetic." I say again and Rose laughs "Seriously, guys, it's ok."

We grab them and drag them out of the portrait, eager to go to Hogsmead. Suddenly, though, I had inspiration for lyrics, probably from my run in with Sasha. "Watch where I'm going," I say to Rose, "I don't know if I have enough skills to write and walk at the same time". She laughs and agrees, and I quickly scribble down the lyrics in a notebook that I always keep with me, I think I have a great start of a song. Then, I put the notebook back in my purse and I realize that we're already half way to Hogsmead. I didn't even crash once! I'm pretty sure that is a record, actually.

"Ooo I forgot to tell you guys!" I exclaim, it totally slipped my mind, "I have to meet James and Freddie in Uncle George's shop!" I kiss them each on the cheek and run off, I'll meet you in the Three Broomsticks in an hour!" I scream as I leave them.

I quickly run to Uncle George's shop. "You're late" Freddie says as I enter. Whoops, I tried right? "Haha sorry, I tried to make it but I had a run-in with Sasha." I say as I laugh then roll my eyes.

We discuss this master prank that we're going to do and I tick off the supplies that we are going to need: Peruvian instant darkness powder. The brilliant part of this plan is that it won't cost us anything because most of it is just excellent wandwork and stealth skills. I spend some time laughing with them, discussing our amazing plan that will go down in November, because let's face it, nothing exciting happens in November.

Soon enough, the hour is up and I have to meet Al, Scor, and Rosie at Three Broomsticks. James and Freddie offer to walk me and we walk in drizzle towards the Three Broomsticks.

"Bonjour!" I say as we find the table where Al, Scor and Rosie sit. "Rosie, do you want to get our costumes now?" I ask. She nods enthusiastically "Yes! Lauren, Alice and Lily are right over there at that table; want to see if they want to come with us?"

"On it!"

I spin on my heel, and see the table where the other girls are. "Hey wanna come with me and Rosie and get costumes for the Halloween Ball?" I ask. They all agree, and us five girls leave the Three Broomsticks with a promise to the boys that we will meet up with them again later.

We enter the Halloween shop, called Spirit, and start looking for costume ideas. Hmm…la de dum.. I need a costume and a dress to perform in. Suddenly, I get an idea! I'll be a flapper! It's perfect and I quickly run off to find a costume. I quickly find a black and gold flowy dress. It looks like it will do so I'm off in search for some black pumps, black, tights, a gold necklace, and a black boa. I quickly find these things and assemble my outfit. It looks great.

The other girls seem to be doing well, too. Rosie has decided to be a pirate, wearing an off the shoulder with dress that ends just above the knees, a black corset-type thing above it, a pirate hat, and carrying a plastic sword. She is going to borrow my black flat knee-high boots to wear for the occasion. Lauren is going to be a fairy, with her chestnut color hair and olive green eyes, the lime green tight fairy dress that she picked out goes perfectly. She's also buying wings that attach to her back, a faint green shimmery print. Alice has decided to be a princess. She is wearing a long, blue, puffy dress that goes to the floor. She looks just like a princess, and the color of the light blue matches her eyes. Lily has decided to be a devil. Wearing a short, tight, red dress, black high heels and carrying around a pitchfork, her red hair cascading down her back and looking amazing. I've promised Lily that I will personally block her form James' view so he doesn't throw a fit.

We all compliment each other on our costume picks, and go to the desk to pay for them. "Girls," I say, "I also have to buy a dress to perform in!" That sets us off again, this time to a different store. After trying on what seems like a million dresses, I decide on a pretty light gray dress with a black bow around the waist. The dress ends around mid-thigh and I found some awesome black ankle boots to go with it.

Swinging our bags with our purchases, we head back to the Three Broomsticks, ready to meet our boys. The boys seem to have made some purchases too, "What did you guys buy?" They all smile, "Costumes" they all answer, each at relatively different times.

"Ooo can we see them?" we all ask in unison. This time Scor answers "will you guys show us your costumes?"

"NO!" we all shout. "You have to wait until Halloween!" I say.

Scor smirks, "Well then, you'll just have to wait." I look pleadingly at Al, but all the boys seem hell bent on this arrangement.

"Fair enough, I guess" Lauren answers for us.

We all manage to sit into a booth, and the waitress, Katie comes up to take our order. James and Freddie try to order Fire whiskeys but Katie knows them, and she knows that they're under age, so we end up all having Butterbeers.

Suddenly, Ben Armstrong approaches our table. Ben is nice enough, I guess, he's a Slytherin, but that prejudice has been long past. He has brown hair and he tries to make it untidy like James' and Albus', but it doesn't work as well for him. His brown eyes are warm, but not a beautiful piercing green.

He clears his throat "Um, could I talk to Z for a moment guys?" he asks. Why does he want to talk to me? "Yeah, sure," I say and motion for him to continue. "Um…alone?" he asks uncertainly. Oh shit. "Ok…" Lauren, Alice, Lily and Rose all have to get up because I'm seated near the wall. They all give me looks that say "I know what he's going to ask…what the hell are you going to do?" like I know myself!

Ben leads me just outside the restaurant. "So Benny," I say "What's up?" He chuckles, then becomes serious. "You know, Z, the Halloween ball is coming up…" I laugh, "I do actually happen to know that".

"Right, well, I was kind of…um wondering if…" Haha he's kind of funny when he stutters. "…you would like to go with me?" he ends uncertainly. What? Go to the ball with him? Well…he is nice…

"I'm sorry, Ben, but I'm already going with someone." I say. Wait, who the hell am I going with?? His face falls, "Oh, well damn that guy acted fast!" he says chuckling nervously. I laugh too, "Haha, yeah he did" I smile.

"Do you mind if I ask who the lucky guys is?" Shit. Who the hell is the lucky guy?

"Al." I answer, smiling.

He laughs, "Well, I'm pretty sure I could've guessed that." He could've guessed that? What is that supposed to mean?

But before I can ask him, he says "Well, Z, I gotta go, but it's been nice talking to you." Umm…yeah? "Yeah, you too" I say in reply.

I slowly walk back to the restaurant. SHIT!! I said that Al was taking me to the dance! He didn't even ask me!

Great, this is perfect, curse me and my stupid mouth!

I quickly walk back to the booth we were occupying, but only Al, Scor and Rosie remain.

"Where'd the rest go?" I ask as I sit down and take a sip of my Butterbeer. "They left, decided to go back to the castle." Rosie answers me, looking at significantly. She's probably wondering what Ben Armstrong needed to talk to me about.

"Hmmm…" I say, "Sounds good to me, what about you guys?" They agree, and we pay for our drinks and head back. As we are walking, Rose and Scor start walking really fast, walking way ahead of me and Al and talking spiritedly.

"Look, Al I need to talk to you." I say solemnly. He looks at me, but there is something different in his eyes, some expression that I just can't pinpoint, "Yeah?" "Yeah." I say, then continue, "Ben Armstrong, asked me to go to the Halloween ball with him."

He twists his head, so I can't see his face. "Really?" he asks. "Mhmm, but see, thing is, I turned him down." His head snaps back in my direction, "Why?" is all he asks. "He's not my type really, but I need you to do me a huge, huge, a thousand times huge favor." I brace myself and him.

"Ok, what?" this time I notice that the peculiar expression in his green eyes was gone. "I sorta, kinda, maybe told him I had a date." I say reluctantly. "Ok?" he seems confused now. "And he asked who my date was…and I said you. So could you please, please, please be my date for the Halloween ball?" As I ask him I clasp my hands in front of me, begging.

Al starts laughing "You told him that you couldn't go with him because you already had a date and the date was me?" I bite my lip, "Haha, yeah" I chuckle nervously.

He shakes his head, looks to the heavens, then winks at me. My breath catches. He swings his arm around my shoulder then says "Sure, Z, I'll be your date for the Halloween ball."

I whoop "Thank you, thank you thank you!" I scream. "Under one condition," he says. "What?" "don't spring this on me again."

I laugh and assure him that it will never, never in a million years happen again, and we walk back to Hogwarts, with his arm still around my shoulders.

* * *

I'm sitting in the common room, scribbling in lyrics to my little red notebook, listening to Al and Scor bicker, while Rosie is reading Pride and Prejudice. I love that book. Mr. Darcy is just so…cool. Haha I doubt that's the word most teenage girls use to describe Mr. Darcy, but he is cool.

I glare at Scor, but I don't think he realizes. James comes up to us at that moment, and we all look up at him. "Family meeting." He says. I wonder what it's about. I look at him curiously as Rose and Al pretend to ignore him. He looks really impatient, and suddenly just grabs Rose and Al and drags them over to where he, Lily and Hugo were sitting. Ok, I'll take this opportunity.

"So, Scor," I start casually. I must not have come off too casually because he looks at me suspiciously. "What?" he says cautiously.

"Will you freaking ask her already?!" I whisper-yell at him. "Ask who, what?" he replies. So he's going to play dumb, fine be that way.

"Ask Rose to snog you in a broom closet." His head whips around quick to look at the Weasley/Potter family then says, "I was not planning on doing that." But I see the faint blush on his cheeks. "Fine, then, why don't you ask her to go to the Halloween ball with you."

"No, she probably wouldn't want to go with me." He says, still looking at Rose. I roll my eyes, so it's going to be the hard way.

I sneak down to his level, (he was sitting on the floor) and whisper in his ear,"Scorpious Hyperion Malfoy if you do not as Rose Weasley to the Halloween ball I'm going to chop your balls off." He gulps, "How come Rose doesn't have her middle name announced?" he asks. "Because she's not the one I'm yelling at! Does that mean you'll do it?" He sighs, "I guess, but if she says no…"

"She won't," I promise.

Just then, the family meeting seemed to end, and Al and Rose start heading back our direction, do I have perfect timing or what? Al sits down in a comfy armchair and Rose picks up her book again.

"Hey, Al, let's go over there" I point to some random corner of the common room. "Why?" he asks, "I just sat down!" "Come on!" I say as I grunt trying to pull him out of the chair before Scor realizes what I'm trying to do and backs out of The Plan. I curse at him silently.

"I'll sing for you over there." I say. This, fortunately grabs his attention, "Ok, fine we'll go over there." "Yay!" I exclaim.

As we get to The Random Corner of the Common Room, I pull out an extendable ear. Al looks at me, "What's going on?" "Shhh listen!" I say hushing him.

"Uh, so Rose," Scor says nervously. "Hmmm," she says while picking up her book again. I try to communicate with her telepathically 'Put down the goddamn book, Rose!' but I don't think she seems to be listening.

"I was um, wondering, . " Scor says really fast. Umm…what? Rose seems to have similar thoughts.

"Sorry, I couldn't quite catch that" she says, smiling nicely. Ooo nicely done Rosie, she knows but she wants to hear him say it again just incase she heard him wrong the first time.

"I was kinda wondering if you wanted to go to the Halloween ball with me?" Scor asks.

Rose positively beams. Yay! "I'd love to go with you, Scor" she smiles, "But I'm exhausted, Z kept me walking all day looking for her outfits!" Hey! "So, I'm off to bed," She kisses him on the cheek, winks at me, then leaves the common room with her book.

Whoo!!! That was amazing. Scor just stands there in shock. I smile big, it worked!

Then, I look at Al, "Why did we have to watch and listen to that?" he complains. Trust a guy to have no sense of romance. "Because I have been waiting for that moment since I met you all." I declare.

"Oh shit!" Scor is coming over I have to be singing! "What song do you want me to sing to you?" I ask quickly.

Al looks at me like I'm on drugs, "Scor is coming over! He can't know I was listening!" "Ok, then do you have another song that you wrote about for your mom?"

I quickly scan through my lyrics in my head. "Well, this one isn't necessarily about my mom, but it has to do with the things that she wanted me to do, and her influence over me." He nods, and I wonder vaguely why he's so interested in the subject of my mother. But I owe him a lot, so I sit down with my guitar, begin strumming, then begin singing:

_What if I squeeze myself into any shape  
And I still don't fit?  
What if I bend myself so much that I break  
And I can't mend it?  
What if I burn so bright that the fire goes out  
And I can't stay lit?  
What's the point in it?  
I could get good at crying crocodile tears  
Just to get along  
I could carry on telling you wanna hear  
'til my voice is gone  
But if I finally get to the place that I think is home  
And I don't belong  
What's the point in it?  
Where's the benefit?  
When I'm gaining all but I'm losing it_

_It's not worth having  
If it's too much to hold  
You can dig so deep  
That you're left with a hole  
Thirsty in a desert with a bag full of gold  
Don't wanna end up like pirate bones  
What I thought was precious was just a pile o' stones  
I might have the treasure but I'd be lying alone  
Just a pile of pirate bones  
If I forfeit my soul it ain't worth having  
If it's something I stole it ain't worth having_

_What if I stake everything I am on a dream  
And it's counterfeit?  
If I reach the end that justifies the means  
Could I live with it?  
And if it's true that having too much of any good thing  
Could only make me sick  
What's the point in it  
Where's the benefit  
When I'm gaining all but I'm losing it  
Oh, oh_

_It's not worth having  
If it's too much to hold  
You can dig so deep  
That you're left with a hole  
Thirsty in a desert with a bag full of gold  
Don't wanna end up like pirate bones  
What I thought was precious was just a pile o' stones  
I might have the treasure but I'd be lying alone  
Pile o' bones_

_If I forfeit my soul it ain't worth having  
If it's something I stole it ain't worth having_

_It's not wroth that much to me  
If losing out is what it means  
To swim in shallow victory  
Is empty, empty  
It's just not worth the price  
It's only a fools paradise  
If it's draining every drop of life 'til I'm dry like pirate bones_

_It's not worth having  
If it's too much to hold  
You can dig so deep  
That you're left with a hole  
Thirsty in a desert with a bag full of gold  
Don't wanna end up like pirate bones  
What I thought was precious was just a pile o' stones  
I might have the treasure but I'd be lying alone  
Pile o' bones_

_If I forfeit my soul it ain't worth having, noo_

_Pirate bones  
If it's something I stole it ain't worth having_

_Pirate Bones_

I finish quietly, Al is looking at me, his eyes unreadable. "It was really good" he says quietly. "Yeah it was," Scor says. Hmm hadn't realized he was listening too.

"It's just something that came to me one time when my mom was lecturing me on how I should watch my weight" I wrinkle my nose. "Anyway, I better head to bed, I have to talk to Rose about her hot date!" I smile and wink at Scor. "See, now that wasn't so bad, was it, Mr. Negative??"

"I guess not," he says reluctantly. Ha! I win!

I smile at them, bid them goodnight and skip up the stairs. Once I get in the dormitory, I see Rose there jumping on her bed.

I join her. "Rosie!" I said while jumping! "You've got a date!!" She smiles beautifully at me. "I know!" she screams at me. She continues to tell me, word for word how Scor asked her out and I ooo-ed, awed, gapsed, and laughed at the correct times, even though I already knew what had happened.

I quickly relay to her what happened between me, Ben, and Al; and how Al and I are going to the Halloween ball. "Z that's great!" she says after she'd done her share of ooing awing, gasping, and laughing. "Yeah, I guess, I mean it's only as friends" I say as I frown. But then I remember the lyrics I was scribbling earlier, "But on the bright side! I wrote a new song about Sasha! Wanna hear it?" I ask excitedly.

"Of course!" she says. And, again, I take out my guitar and start singing, but this song is upbeat so I start off a little louder, I begin to sing:

_You think you know me so well  
You put me down, it builds you up  
You're kicking me around  
You just can't get enough  
And all your friends surround you  
Oh, without them by your side  
You start to show your weakness  
It's something you can't hide_

_Yeah yeah_

_We'll stop and erase  
Cause I'm gonna wipe  
That smile off your know-it-all face  
Whaoh  
Laugh while you can  
Yeah live it up, but  
Read my lips, the joke is on you  
I've figured it out  
You're all about  
Walking tall on the people you knock down  
So stop and erase  
Cause I'm gonna wipe  
That smile off your know-it-all face  
Whaoh_

_I'm waking up I'm feeling  
What I was scared to feel before  
I got my eyes wide open  
Won't take it anymore_

_All the lies and teasing  
Yes, I could never be that cool  
You had them all believing  
But now that's through  
Yeah Yeah_

_We'll stop and erase  
Cause I'm gonna wipe  
That smile off your know-it-all face  
Whaoh  
Laugh while you can  
Yeah live it up, but  
Read my lips, the joke is on you  
I've figured it out  
You're all about  
Walking tall on the people you knock down  
So stop and erase  
Cause I'm gonna wipe  
That smile off your know-it-all face_

_Count down,  
The tables have turned  
Better wise up  
You've got lots of nerve  
Cause you're all alone  
Now_

_We'll stop and erase  
Cause I'm gonna wipe  
That smile off your know-it-all face  
Whaoh  
Laugh while you can  
Yeah live it up, but  
Read my lips, the joke is on you  
Whaoh  
I've figured it out  
You're all about  
Walking tall on the people you knock down._

_So stop and erase  
Cause I'm gonna wipe  
That smile off your know-it-all face  
We'll stop and erase  
Cause I'm gonna wipe  
That smile off your know-it-all face  
Whaoh  
Laugh while you can  
Yeah live it up, but  
Read my lips, the joke is on you_

_I've figured it out  
You're all about  
Walking tall on the people you knock down_

_So stop and erase  
Cause I'm gonna wipe  
That smile off your know-it-all face_

I finish and Rose is laughing and clapping like a maniac. "I loved it!" she exclaims. I'm happy and we grab some hot chocolate in the kitchens before curfew and when I go to bed that night, I dream wonderful dreams of me and Al dancing at the Halloween ball.

* * *

**A/N: So, there it is! I hope you like it! Please review! Tell me if you like/don't like or have any questions! Ooo, i almost forgot, the songs don't belong to me! The first one is Pirate Bones by Natasha Bedingfield and the second one is Stop and Erase by Selena Gomez and the Scene. Cheers!**

**~wwccd**


	11. How Could it Go So Wrong?

**How can something so right, go so wrong… (got me feeling….got me feeling like this)  
How can something so right, go so wrong**

**-Lil' Wayne**

**Chapter 10--**

_**Rose's **_**POV**

I'm sitting casually in the common room right after the wonderful Hogsmead day. When, suddenly James is standing over me, Scor, Al, and Z, glaring at me and Al. "Family meeting" he says, and I just roll my eyes. James likes to think he's cool because he's the oldest of the cousins at Hogwarts this year. Al doesn't pay any attention either, so James suddenly reaches down, grabs both our hands and drags us to where Lily and Hugo are already sitting.

James continues to talk about really important things; but I'll just fast forward them now because I want to get to the part of the evening when Scor asks me out. So, anyway, after Al and I return to our table that Z and Scor are currently occupying, thinking about many things, I sit down and pick up my favorite book _Pride and Prejudice_. It's a Muggle book that both my mum and Z love and I really like it too. Z is acting suspiciously and asks Al to go to some random corner of the room almost as soon as he sits down.

I stop paying attention to them because I'm at a really intense part in the book. Suddenly, I realize Scor is talking to me. "So, Rose" he says, "I was um, wondering, ." He says really, really fast. Did he just say what I thought he said? "Sorry, I couldn't quite catch that" I say, trying do be nice and patient. I wait with bated breath for his answer.

He clears his throat, "I was kinda wondering if you wanted to go to the Halloween ball with me?" Scor asks. My breath catches. My heart starts beating rapidly. I even have to remind myself to breathe. I feel my eyes go wide and I wonder if my voice got stuck in my throat and I'd even be able to answer him. Breathe, breathe.

"I'd love to go with you, Scor" my voice says, but I am unaware that I'm actually saying it, this whole thing is so surreal "But I'm exhausted, Z kept me walking all day looking for her outfits! So, I'm off to bed," I say then I kiss him on the cheek, winks at Z, and grab my book and leave the common room. Where the hell did I pull that from?

As soon as I get to the dormitory I'm jumping up and down on my bed screaming and laughing, and just acting crazy in general. Sasha enters, looks at me disgustedly, grabs something from her bed, then leaves the dormitory again quickly. Stupid bitch, but nothing can get me down tonight. I continue my happy jumping and soon enough, Z comes in and joins me.

We talk about our dates, how great is it that she and Al are going to the ball together? Even if it is just as friends, it is a step. We laugh and sing and just have fun in general for the rest of the night.

* * *

It's amazing how fast a week can go when you're helping plan a ball. Scor and I have to help set up for the ball anyway, being prefects, but Z also needs help with her song list, stage outfit and the rest of the works.

After classes, Z and I do our homework as fast as we can so that Scor and I get to the prefects meeting on time; help organize the ball a little more, then when we return help Z pick out the songs for her song list. The song list is actually coming along, Z has decided she's going to sing 14 songs including: Stop & Erase (a special one for Sasha), single (a fun song for single people), Naturally (a cute upbeat couple song), Make you feel my love (another couple song but slower), More, Party, Angel, As a blonde, Crush, Dollhouse, Goodbye, My life would suck without you, Every time we touch, and Untouchable.

Unfortunately, all the songs on this list are subject to change. We also have to do the finishing touches on our costumes.

Anyway, I at first thought that going out with Scor would be a little awkward, but surprisingly, it wasn't. We hold hands all the time: walking to classes, under the table at dinner, and we joke around a lot like we did before. Except, now we can kiss each other on the cheek. Hopefully this will all change at the Halloween ball, where we can finally snog properly.

I told Z that I didn't want to join her on stage because I had a date for the ball and she was a little disappointed, but got over it. Now she gets to do her 14 songs and go to the ball with Al!

* * *

I wake up on the morning of the Halloween ball early. I look at the clock and groan; it's only five in the morning. I'm not usually an early riser, well I guess I am compared to Z, but compared to Z, everyone is an early riser; point is, I am never up at 5 in the morning just because.

I hop out of bed and consider waking Z up, but I know she will be really angry with me and she needs her sleep to perform tonight, so I decide against this and sit by the window, looking out into the darkness.

I hope that tonight will go well, that it won't be awkward between me and Scor, that Z's performance goes well, and Al snogs Z. On second thought, I hope Al doesn't snog Z because I bet James that it wouldn't happen before Christmas. I really don't want to loose a galleon.

Eventually, I just get bored with sitting there, looking at the darkness and head downstairs to the common room. When I get to the common room, I see a familiar blond head sitting in a comfy armchair. I sneak up behind him and then say "So, you're awake too, huh?" He jumps a little; I guess he didn't know I was behind him.

Scor looks at me and smiles "Couldn't sleep." I sigh, "Me neither." He pats his lap and I sit on top of him. We continue to talk about stupid things, as he plays with my hair, just enjoying each others company. I look out the window and see the sun is starting to rise. I leap off Scor's lap and run to the window Scor following behind me quickly, I love watching the sun rise and set, the colors of the sky are just so beautiful and the world looks peaceful. Scor and I watch the sun rise with our arms around each other's waists. Suddenly, we are startled to hear a loud thump from up by the boys dormitories.

I kiss Scor on the cheek and tell him I have to go make myself presentable for the day. "You already look presentable to me" he says, but I laugh at him, kiss him on the cheek again and head upstairs.

When I reach my dormitory, Z is already awake. "Where have you been Rosie!?!" she asks, frantic. "Downstairs with Scor, watching the sun rise and talking" I answer her question, calmly still not ready to begin the un-peaceful part of the day.

She just looks at me then says, "You guys are like an unbelievable cheesy teen romance novel." She says. "Well, thanks for that" I say sarcastically. She laughs "I mean that in the nicest way possible Rosie, you know that. I mean c'mon you're like Romeo and Juliet, your parents hated each other, now you're in lurve, and you're doing romantic things like watching the sun rise together!"

"Romeo and Juliet end up dead." I feel the need to point that out.

"Well see, that's where you're a tad different then them. Anyway, we need to set out our costumes, go down to breakfast, make sure we have everything set out for tonight, then we can eat lunch. After that, we need to set up for the ball, and I need to do my dress rehearsal and I will be your best friend forever if you watch and see if I mess up my lyrics or something. Finally, we can get ready for the ball and knock the socks off the boys thanks to how amazing we look. Oh! I almost forgot, I offered for Lily, Lauren, and Alice to come over here to get ready, but Lauren insisted that we all go to the head dormitory and use that bathroom, so we don't have to deal with Sasha, and the boys won't use it anyway."

Throughout the day, everything went according to Z's plan. We rushed downstairs, and ate some breakfast and talked with the boys a little. We all decided to meet in the Gryffindor Common room at quarter to 7 that evening. Scor, Z, and I stay behind after breakfast to transform the Hall into a ballroom. Al, the lucky git, gets to leave and go have fun doing something else.

After we're done, the Hall looks amazing. There are bats everywhere, pumpkins, the room is dark with eerie purple lighting, the stage is set, and there is going to be fog everywhere. It won't affect the eyesight because it will just hover about a half meter above the ground, but it will look really cool.

After all the prefects (and Scor) leave Z puts on her cute little dress and gives me a small performance, just so she can see how the stage is and remembers her lyrics. She didn't mess up at all, that I could tell, even though she had some criticisms for herself.

After this, we head over to the Gryffindor Tower and enter the common room. The boys are there so we say a quick hi to them, then rush upstairs to get our things to get ready. We head over to the Heads Dormitories, which is behind a painting of a girl in a violet dress. We ask politely to go inside, and she asks us who we are, and said that Lauren had said we were coming but we have to verify who we are by answering a question each from her.

In her high, tinkling voice the girl asks Z "How many inches of rain does Arizona get in one year?" Only Z would know the answer to this question, obviously no one else because she lives (part time) in Arizona. "5 inches," Z says confidently, and the girl in the violet dress smiles at her.

"That is correct, hello, Z Ross." Z and the girl in the violet dress (GIVD) exchange smiles. "Now I have a question for you" GIVD turns toward me "What is your favorite book, the real one, not the one that you tell everyone?" Ahh, I know this question, see if anyone asked me what my favorite book is I would say _Hogwarts: a Revised History_ just to sound like my mother, but in reality, my favorite book is "_Pride and Prejudice" _I answer.

GIVD smiles at me, too, and says "That is also correct, hello, Rose Weasley," Then she says to both of us, "You may enter," and swings her portrait backwards so that we can enter. The Heads Common Room is magnificent. Half of the decorations are in Gold and Maroon, Gryffindor colors, but the other half are in blue and silver, Ravenclaw colors, because Frank is a Gryffindor and Lauren is a Ravenclaw.

To the left, is the corridor that leads to the Head Girl's dormitory, and there on the door, is a golden plate that says "Lauren Finnegan" on it in fancy silver script. We knock and hear Lily, Alice and Lauren say "Enter!" at different times. Z and I giggle at how silly this sounds, but enter anyway.

Lily is going to the ball solo, Owen didn't have the guts to ask her out; but never fear Z is sure that they will get a few dances in (and you know Z has The Eye). (Note the use of sarcasm). Alice is also going solo, but I think that James has something up his sleeve for her at the ball, Z is also in on it but she says it's not her secret to tell every time I ask about it. Lauren and Frank are going together because they are Head boy and head girl and they just feel that would be right (they'll use any excuse, I guess).

We girls get ready fairly quickly, it only took us around an hour and a half, and that was all 5 of us! When, we are finished we look amazing.

Lauren is dressed as a fairy, her shoulder-length chestnut colored hair straight, and her green eyes almost matching the short, mid-thigh fairy dress she is wearing. He wings are a shimmery, almost translucent green that she put a spell on so they'll occasionally flap just for fun's sake. Her make up is very natural and she is wearing little light green ballet slippers and looks adorable.

Alice looks just as gorgeous in her light blue princess dress and clear high heels. She looks like a brunette Cinderella, and I think that was the point. Except for, Alice is wearing a beautiful crown, it's not much, but it looks just right. Her eyes look exquisite, like Lauren, almost matching the color of her dress. Her light brown hair is in a fancy, curled up do, with natural makeup as well and she has a black choker necklace around her neck.

Lily looks hot. There is no other word to describe her. She's wearing a mid-thigh blood red, leather mini dress with boots to match. She's carrying a pitchfork and her long, red hair is cascading down her back. Lily's make up is sparkling red eyeliner and bronze eyes with red mascara (I wonder where she found all the red makeup) and her face is free of blemishes. Sometimes, when she smiles she even looks evil. Owen is going to love her, and I think both James and Albus will have a hissy fit when they see her.

Z looks like a model. (I should really stop hanging out with such beautiful people). She's wearing a black and gold flapper dress with black tights and pumps; she's also wearing a black headband across her forehead, a gold necklace, and a black boa. Her long, dark hair is curled to perfection, with shimmering gold highlights in it. Not blond, shimmering gold. Her eye makeup is done with a smokey eye affect, which works great with her costume and her on-stage outfit that she will have to switch into at about 7:30.

Last, but not least is me. I'm wearing a white, flowy dress beneath a black corset-looking top. The white sleeves are about shoulder length and big, and the dress ends at about mid-thigh. I'm wearing Z's black, flat, boots that end right before my knee, so it looks like I'm showing a lot of skin, but I'm not. My make up is also some what of a smokey eye, but not as dramatic as Z's. I'm wearing a pirates hate and carrying a plastic sword, to make the whole outfit more authentic. My long brown hair is in its natural waves, cascading down my back.

We scurry to the common room to meet up with the boys. We laugh as we see them: James is a teenage mutant ninja turtle, Freddie is a bunny (yes, a bunny), Frank is the muggle version of a wizard, Owen is Superman, Al is James Bond, the muggle spy, and Scor is a vampire.

Scor's wearing a black; black pants, black shoes, black shirt, black tie, and a black cape on top of it all. And looks majorly hot; swoon. The black contrasts his pale skin and blond hair and his grey eyes are staring at me.

We make fun of Freddie and James for their costume choices (apparently, they had both dared each other to wear these wonderful costumes) and then noticed that we should probably be heading down to the Great Hall.

We all skip down to the Great Hall, arm in arm, ready for the ball. We mill around for a little while, just hanging out and enjoying each other' s company; but soon Z has to leave us to get ready. At exactly 8 o' clock we hear the music begin to play and Al, Scor, Frank, Freddie, Owen, James, Lauren, Alice, Lily, and I all look towards the stage.

Z is standing there with the microphone in her hand, wearing a grey dress, about mid-thigh, black tights, and black ankle boots, with her hair still curled and her highlights still a shimmering gold.

"Ahem!" She says, scaring the shit out of Sasha, Olivia and Sophie, but I think she meant to do that. "Happy Halloween everyone!" She says as people whoop and clap excitedly. "For those of you who don't know who I am," (who doesn't know who she is?) "I am Mackenzie Ross, better known as Z. Now whose ready, to get this party started?" Every laughs, then whoops and claps again as Z begins to sing her first song, Every time we touch.

Every goes out to the dance floor, and I don't think anyone left all during Z's set. Scor and I had a fun time dancing, but I think Al felt a little left out so he went to go get a drink. Z started singing a slow song, Make You Feel My Love, and Scor and I were dancing really close, whispering to each other, and Scor leans in closer. I look at him, and my eyes dart quickly to his lips, then back to his eyes, which are unreadable. I lean in too, but just as we were about to kiss, something interrupts us.

Z had left the stage and some other random chick was on, trying to sing, which just shows how much Scor and I were paying attention. Al was slow dancing with Sasha. What??? Why on earth was he slow dancing with her? I look to Scor, alarmed and he follows my gaze, "That's not right" We both say at the same time.

Al suddenly leads Sasha over to the refreshment table, with a loving look in his eye. NO! I almost shout, he doesn't love Sasha, he loves Z! Mackenzie Elizabeth Ross, why is he dancing and looking at Sasha like that. My face must have shown my panic, because Scor puts his arm around me and squeezes my shoulder, reassuringly, "Let's go talk to him" Scor suggests. And he has to restrain me from running towards the new couple.

We approach Al and Sasha, and I say "Hey Al, hey Sasha." Both of their heads swivel to look at us at the same time. "Hey guys," Al says with a goofy smile on his face, "you guys want to know what I just figured out?" Scor and I exchange a glance, Al is acting strange "Umm…sure?" Scor asks him uncertainly.

"I'm in love with Sasha!!" Al says loudly. WHAT?!?!! WHICH BLOODY DRUG IS HE ON?!?! Scor and I scream at the same time, "WHAT?!" Al's face falls "I thought you would be happy for me, I found love!" He says as he puts his arm around Sasha, again smiling goofily, IS HE DRUNK?? "I thought you were in love with Z!" Scor says.

"NO! I'M IN LOVE WITH SASHA!! WHY CAN'T YOU GUYS JUST ACCEPT THAT?!" Al shouts at us angrily. I hear a gasp from behind us, shit. Z is standing behind us and probably didn't hear the entire conversation, but most definitely heard the last part when Al professed his love for Sasha. She sees me and Scor, but quickly turns on her heel, and runs away. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Scor whispers to me "You take Z, I'll take Al." I nod at him in understanding, squeeze his hand quickly, and then I run right after Z. But, before I can make it to her, I see her talking to Ben Armstrong. I watch from afar, not being able to hear the conversation. Ben smiles, and then takes Z out to the dance floor and they begin to dance. The fast song ends, and Ben just smiles wider, and pulls Z close to them, so that they're bodies are pressed together, slow dancing. NO! I'm screaming in my head again. THIS IS NOT HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! Ben leans in close to Z, and suddenly, they're snogging out on the dance floor for all to see.

I run back to Scor to relay the news, but before I can say anything, Scor says to me "Hurry, we have to get Al to Professor Vane, I think that Sasha slipped him a love potion!" Scor and I rush Al to Professor Vane, and she quickly confirms Scor's suspicions, she gives Al the antidote, and quickly he returns to normal.

"What happened?" he asks. We can't bring ourselves to say anything to him, so we just lead him back to the dance, where Z and Ben are still slow dancing, even when the music is faster now.

"Sasha gave you a love potion; you drank it, and professed your love for her right in front of Z." I explain to him quietly.

I wasn't sure if he had heard me, he was quiet for so long, just standing there, looking at Z and Ben together. He looks at us forlornly "I think I'm just going to go to bed," he says as he walks away slowly. I look at Scor, tears brimming in my eyes, "I hate this." I declare as soon as Al is gone.

Scor hugs me, and steers me outside, where I begin to cry. Luckily, I had thought ahead before and had cast a spell so that tears would not ruin my makeup. When I was done crying I said "I really, really hate this."

"You already said that, love" Scor says affectionately to me. "I know, that just proves how much I hate this, they're both going to be miserable." Scor nods. "I know that will be the worst part." He and I stay outside the rest of the night, holding each other, wondering how such a promising night could go so wrong.

* * *

**A/N: AHH!! I'm so sorry! I really, really really hated writing this :( Thank you so so much for your reviews, keep them coming! **

**~wwccd**


	12. Every Little Thing's Gonna Be Alright

**It's gonna be ok,  
It's gonna be alright,  
Tomorrow is a new day  
Oh, you see it in a new light.  
Try to keep your head up,  
Don't you ever give up,  
Even if your heart breaks  
Yeah, it's gonna be ok.  
It's gonna be ok...  
--Theres Andersson**

**Chapter 11----**

_**Mackenzie's **_**POV**

"NO, I'M IN LOVE WITH SAHSA!! WHY CAN'T YOU GUYS JUST ACCEPT THAT?" Al screams at Scor and Rose.

I'm fairly certain, that in that moment, my whole world stopped. My ears were ringing "in love with Sasha…in love with Sasha". So Al didn't like me as more than a friend after all. I feel really pathetic; I must have misinterpreted his actions. He didn't love me. He loves Sasha, my archenemy. 'In love with Sasha…in love with Sasha." He didn't love me. He thinks of me as a sister, as a friend, he doesn't love me like I love him.

When I realize this, I feel an incredible pain. I gasp. Rose and Scor turn and look at me simultaneously, identical looks of horror on their faces. I can't look at them, they know. Did they know before? Could they have known and not told me? No, Rose would've said something, maybe not outright, but she would've dropped hints.

God I must have looked pathetic when I practically pleaded with him to go to the ball with me. I was only fooling myself, he didn't like me. I turn around quickly, and run in the other direction. Any direction, I couldn't face them. I see Ben Armstrong sitting with his buddies; he must have come to the ball alone. I walk up to him; maybe he'll stop the pain.

"Hey, Benny" I say to him smiling, can he tell that I'm faking it?

"Uh, hey, Z" Ben says, uncertainly.

"Do you want to dance?" I ask politely. His face breaks into a smile and I realize that he is actually kind of cute; I must have been really obsessing over Al not to notice it before. All his friends raise their eyebrows, probably wondering if I was only toying with Ben, or if I was just a slut. Ben hardly seems bothered.

"Sure" he says smiling, while his friends watch me cautiously, wondering if I am in my right mind.

Ben leads me out to the dance floor and we begin to dance. "Look, Ben," I begin to say to him "I really really wanted to go to the ball with you." I did?

He raises his eyebrows in surprise. "But, see, Al asked me to do him a favor. He really likes Sasha, and he wanted to make her jealous, so he asked me to go on his date. We don't have any romantic feelings for each other." Well, one of use doesn't anyway.

Suddenly, the song changes to a slower song; and Ben smiles even bigger and scoops me up in his arms and presses me against him. "Well," he says "I'm just glad I get to dance with a beauty like you." Aww, he's a romantic. The pain is slowly going away. I'm not numb, but I feel comfort. I giggle and put my hands around his neck.

We continue to dance to this slow song, and Ben looks into my eyes. I stare straight back into his. The only thing I remember thinking before he kissed me was "His eyes aren't green".

The kiss was nice, comfortable and I enjoyed it. It wasn't hot and passionate, but it wasn't terrible either; and I could live with that.

I realized that the music was no longer slow, but we were still slow dancing. I point this out to Ben and he just laughs and says "So? I happen to like slow dancing with you." I laugh and pay him the same compliment, and we continued slow dancing.

I never noticed three people watching me. They only watched for a short time before one left, walking away slowly, and one left crying in the other person's arms. I didn't notice. I just needed to stop the pain.

* * *

The following weeks went along quietly and slowly. Al and I just kept growing more and more apart. We would still eat together, talk together, and hang out together, but it wasn't the same. I couldn't tell if it was him or me that was pulling away more. I guess it was different now that we were all dating someone. Scor and Rose were obviously dating each other, I was dating Ben, and Al was dating Sasha.

And boy, did Sasha never let me forget it: Albus was such a great snogger, Albus just did the most romantic thing! Albus this and Albus that. Didn't she know that the people closest to him call him Al? Did she know his middle name that he hates? Did she know who is first kiss was? His favorite color? The way his eyes show all his emotions? I didn't think so, I knew that. I was his friend, I loved him. Probably more than he loved me, I loved him so much that it hurt. I knew him, I knew him more than any other person in the world would know him, except for maybe his mum.

But I couldn't say anything, I had Ben. I sat quietly, biding my time. I spent time with Scor, Rose and Al but when they all broke off to be with their beloveds, I found my Benny.

Ben had asked me to be his girlfriend the day after the Halloween ball. He did it all romantically too, with flowers and he went down on one knee. I accepted because I had just heard that Al and Sasha were practically going out. Ben numbed the pain.

Slowly but surely, it grew easier; Easier to laugh, to joke, to make fun of Al, to be around him and Sasha. Granted, I still wanted to puke every time that Al and Sasha did something cute, but that I could handle.

I thought I was fooling everyone.

* * *

One random day in November, November 17th, Rose confronted me. "You're being really stupid." She said.

I was confused, "What?" I didn't know what she was talking about, I had just gotten back from a date with Ben, that involved walking around Hogwarts, and my mind wasn't totally back.

"You need to break up with Ben" She says, clearly, with great certainty. "You're hurting because you love Al, it isn't fair to Ben, you're only using him."

I was stunned; I thought I had fooled her, but she knew. I become angry "What if he likes being used?!" I argue back, grateful that we're in our dormitory, and no one else is around.

"No one likes being used," Rose scoffs, "You're being a coward! This is not you," she states. I look at her.

"I only want the pain to go away." I say quietly, but the sound seems to fill up the room.

Rose's look softens and she steps towards me and puts her arms around me. "Oh, sweetie, I know,"

"No, you don't know, Rose! I thought I loved him! Then it turns out he's in love with my arch enemy!" I feel tears welling up in my eyes. "I couldn't take the pain, Rosie, Ben numbs the pain. He makes it go away, I can't leave him."

She puts her arms around me, comforting me, "Shh, shh it's ok" she says. But Al said those exact words to me. I remember Al, laying with me, worrying about me, comforting me when I was crying, I remember everything about him, everything I loved, everything I still love.

But I don't cry. I can't. Crying shows weakness. So I smile pathetically at Rose then say "Rose, don't make me break up with him. I need him." my voice cracks as I say this, making me feel even more pathetic.

She studies me and she must see something, maybe she sees I'm pathetic, or stupid or depressed, or insane, but she still loves me. And she says "I won't make you do anything." I smile at her again, this time, more of a real smile, and then I hold my head high.

"I need to get over him, Rose; obviously he is not in my happy ending. Or maybe he is, he's just not going to be the role I thought he would be playing." See? That is definitely some positive thinking!

This time, it's her turn to smile pathetically, and we spend the whole night talking about how great Ben is.

Then, I remember a song that I wrote on the night of the Halloween ball. "Do you want to hear it?" I ask Rose and, as always, she nods enthusiastically.

I grab my guitar and begin to play:

_I stop to catch my breath  
And I stop to catch your eye  
No need to second-guess  
That you've been on my mind  
Well I, I dream days away, but that's OK_

_It's like I want to hear a silent sound  
And then hold it in my hand  
But a rose won't blossom from a ground  
Of desert sand, but I like to pretend that_

_One day I'll turn around, I'll see your hand reach out  
I'm only fooling myself, yeah yeah yeah  
But maybe when you smile  
It means you'd stay awhile  
Just maybe you'd save me now  
I'm only fooling myself yeah yeah yeha_

_Only fooling myself_

_Well, now it's etched in stone  
That I can't survive alone  
You have the missing piece  
That I need so desperately  
Yes, I slip away to a day that'll never come_

_It's like a splash of water to my face  
When I suddenly realize  
That you could never find a place  
For me in your eyes, and I don't know why I keep thinking_

_One day I'll turn around, I'll see your hand reach out  
I'm only fooling myself, yeah yeah yeah  
But maybe when you smile  
It means you'd stay awhile  
Just maybe you'd save me now_

_I'm only fooling myself yeah yeah yeah_

_I'm only fooling myself_

_It's love in disguise  
I'm lost in your eyes  
Lost in your eyes_

_Lost in your eyes_

_One day I'll turn around, I'll see your hand reach out  
I'm only fooling myself, yeah yeah yeah  
But maybe when you smile  
It means you'd stay awhile  
Just maybe you'd save me_

_One day I'll turn around, I'll see your hand reach out_

_I'm only fooling myself yeah yeah yeah_

_But maybe when you smile_

_It means you'd stay for a while_

_Just maybe you'd save me now_

_Save me now_

I finish quietly and Rose looks at me sadly. "Is that about Al?" she asks quietly.

Of course it is, who else would it be about? "Yeah," I say dejectedly.

But then I smile; the first smile that I've smiled for a long time. "But I'm going to be okay! It will always hurt, but I will make it through!"

We just have fun and laugh for awhile. I hadn't realized how long it had been since Rose and I had done something together.

We giggle and laugh and annoy Sasha to no end, even though she's Al's girlfriend, she doesn't get our approval.

Actually, nobody likes Sasha. James, Freddie, Rose, and Lily most definitely hate her guts. They all just ignore her whenever she talks, much to her annoyance and the annoyance of Al. I attempt to be polite to her, but I'm afraid I always come off as bitchy. Frank and Owen dislike her as well. This is strange because normally they're pretty easy-going people, but once they attempted to have a normal conversation with her and she started talking about shopping and herself and how great she is. They never really talked to her after that. Lauren and Alice have known for a long time what a bitch she was, so they didn't even attempt to be nice to her, just like the rest of us. Only Hugo was the slightest bit polite to her, occasionally giving her a small smile.

These kinds of thoughts cheered me up. I wasn't the only one who disliked her so much and thought that she and Al are a bad couple.

My friends didn't really seem to mind Ben. I mean, they definitely didn't love him, but I think they saw him as the lesser of two evils, which he most definitely is. They were polite to him, and I was glad that they accepted him.

* * *

I wake up on Saturday morning unusually early. This is strange because I never ever ever wake up early; especially on a Saturday.I soon realize (after several times of trying) that I will never be able to go back to sleep so I quickly, take a shower, dry my hair, and put on jeans and some random t-shirt, then I head downstairs for the Common room.

As I'm heading downstairs I hear voices discussing loudly. I find this strange because who discusses loud things in the common room and 4 o'clock on a Saturday morning? I quickly descend the stairs to see what is going on.

I'm not sure what I expected, but I'm sure that the sight I saw before me was not what I was expecting. Sasha, Al, and Scor were all in the common room, standing and yelling at each other.

"Whoa," I said, "What is going on?" They all looked up at me, surprised.

"Kenzie," Al said, "Um…what are you doing up? You're never up this early!" He hadn't called me Kenzie in a long time, since the Halloween ball. I had forgotten how nice it sounded.

Sasha scoffs, rolls her eyes, and stomps her food. She then proceeds to let out a frustrated scream and start charging at me.

You know in those Muggle action movies when everything goes in slow motion? That's totally what happened here. I had just woken up, and my arch nemesis has decided to charge at me like a wild bull. I look at Scor and Al, completely shocked and wondering what was happen, the terrified looks on their faces quickly confirmed that a rabid girl was running towards me at 4 in the morning.

Just as she got close to me, I step to the left to dodge her attack. Al runs up to me and puts himself between me and Sasha. "Sasha, you're acting ridiculous and you're only making a fool out of yourself" he says to her.

This just seems to make her even more frustrated and screams a terrible shrill scream that makes the hairs on my arm stand straight up, and I get goose bumps all over. She then starts screaming at Al, "YOU COMFORT HER!! IT'S HER! IT'S ALWAYS BEEN HER! SHE IS YOUR FIRST PRIORITY!! YOU'RE PROTECTING _HER_ INSTEAD OF YOUR GIRLFRIEND OF ALMOST A MONTH!!"

"Well," Al says, trying to be diplomatic, "you kind of started charging at her, and Kenzie has been my friend much longer than you have been my girlfriend."

This is true, and I ponder this thought. I wondered why I ever thought that I couldn't be close to Al. I had been his friend long before I realized that I had romantic feelings for him. I could be his friend, just like he had been mine.

"You know what? We'll just finish this later, I'm exhausted. No_ normal_ person wakes up at 4 o'clock in the morning!" Sasha says looking at me scornfully and then strides out of the room.

I just look at Al and Scor in complete shock. "What the hell is up her arse?" I ask.

Scor just starts laughing but Al sits down in a chair. Al looks exhausted, he rubs his eyes, and it dawns on me that he probably never went to sleep. I studied him more closely and I realize that he looks a lot older than his 16 years.

I feel pity for him, and go up to him. "Al," I whisper, "I'm so sorry."

He looks at me, confused "What are you sorry for?"

"I didn't know that I had been interfering in your relationship." I say, I can afford to be nice to Sasha now that Al is obviously angry with her.

He looks at me like I'm crazy, "You haven't been interfering; Sasha is a crazy bitch." Wow that's harsh. "She's always trying to say that you and I are sneaking around behind her back or that I love you and I hate her. She's a bloody psychopath!!"

I giggle, "Well, I could've told you that!" then, I stop giggling, "If you want me to be nicer to her, I'll try." I can do that; I can make him happy.

He just rolls his eyes, "I would never ask you to do that. I'm breaking it off with her as soon as she comes down to the common room this morning."

I whoop and I start to dance around the common room. I have Scor join me, and Al watches us, laughing.

"Ahem," we see Rose standing on the staircase, looking at all of us confused.

"AL IS BREAKING UP WITH SASHA!!" Scor and I scream at her. She whoops too and joins me and Scor in our dancing extravaganza.

I go over to Al and pull him up. "C'mon, you need to dance at your own party!"

I didn't know that it was possible to be this happy. Pretty soon, we're all dancing around the common room, laughing our arses off at 5 o' clock in the morning.

Just then, Sasha comes down, yet again, and she looks furious. "WILL YOU LOT SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP? NORMAL PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP RIGHT NOW!!" she doesn't seem to realize that she just insulted her almost-ex-boyfriend and his best friends.

Scor, Rose and I look at Al, expectantly, "Sasha, we're over." He says clearly. She looks stunned for a moment, and tears well up in her eyes. I'm almost sorry for her. Almost. "But, everything was going so well." She says pathetically.

I can't help it. I start giggling. Rose joins in and Scor looks like he's about to loose it too. Suddenly, we're all laughing again, and I realize that I hear the beautiful sound of Al's laughter. Sasha now has tears streaming down her face, and she turns quickly and runs back to the dormitory. She thought that relationship was going well???

"Just for that, Al, you can come with me and James and Freddie to play our end of November prank!" I say to him.

He smiles, and I smile back at him, everything is normal.

James, Freddie, Al, and I spend the rest of the day transfiguring pillows from the room of requirement into pigs. During dinner that night, we brought all the pigs into the Great Hall and put wings on them, and put a levitation spell on the pigs to make it look like they were flying. Then I wrote in gold script (my handwriting was the neatest) in the air "Today is the day when pigs fly! Anything is possible!"

Everyone had a blast, playing pranks and kissing random people for the rest of the night.

I think this is one of my favorite days ever, but then I wonder about Ben. I've definitely developed some feelings for him, we've been going out for almost a month. And now that Al is single, I can't just drop him. Why does life have to be so difficult?

* * *

**A/N: Ok, I hope you like this chap. I really hated the whole Al/Sasha thing, so I decided to end it quickly :) Thank you so much to all my reviewers!! :) I've finally decided on a plot, somewhat, so hopefully the story will get better. Please keep reviewing, I love to hear your opinions! I've been thinking....it would be interesting to write some of this story in the guy's POV....what do you think?? Let me know!!**

**~wwccd**


	13. Date Day

**_We were given: Two hands to hold. _**

**_To legs to walk. Two eyes to see. _**

**_Two ears to listen._**

**_ But why only one heart?_**

**_ Because the other was given to someone else. For us to find._**

**_~Unknown_**

**Chapter 12---**

_**Rose's**_** POV**

I hoped it wouldn't be awkward. Having feelings for your best friend is tough enough, but what if it doesn't work out? What if you decide that those romantic feelings you were having were only hormones? This is what I was bloody terrified of. That Scor and I would break up or something wouldn't work out and we got in a huge fight and nothing would ever be the same again.

Luckily, Z had a little more faith in our relationship.

I was staring at my reflection in the mirror on December 4th. It was Saturday, a Hogsmead day. My skin was pale because I had barely gotten any sleep the night before and there were dark bags under my eyes. I had to focus to control my breathing; otherwise I was sure I would begin to hyperventilate. Today was my first official date with Scor.

It was three in the morning when I first woke up. I had had a dream that I had overslept and completely missed my date. Obviously, this was not the case, so I went to sleep again. The second time I woke up, it was five in the morning and I deemed this a suitable hour to be out of bed. I then got out of bed and started throwing clothes around the room.

What am I going to wear? I mean, I have to make him notice that I am a girl, but I can't be someone completely different then his best friend. Thoughts are spinning through my mind in a whirlwind, barely making sense. I remember thinking "I can't find my hair tie!" but I knew for a fact that I had many hair ties all over the dorm.

I was only awake for fifteen minutes before Z managed to wakeup. She sighed loudly, and then said "I already picked out an outfit for you, Rosie, go take a shower and I'll get everything set up."

It's amazing how well my friends know me. I dash off to the shower and once I'm beneath the warm water, it's hard to speed up the process. I wanted to take a really fast shower, but it felt so amazing. By the time I got out of the shower, it was 6 o' clock in the morning.

"Finally!" Z exclaimed. "I've only been waiting for you forever!" I roll my eyes at her hyperbole.

"Whatever, Z" I say "Let's just get this getting ready thing out of the way!"

This time, it's her turn to roll her eyes. "First off, we're gonna get you some breakfast!"

She throws me a dirty robe and I notice that she is already dressed in one as well. When I'm done dressing, she drags me down to the Great Hall. I think we were both a little surprised when we realized that it was open and that some people actually ate at such an early hour.

But instead of saying anything, we sat in silence, eating our breakfast. Finally, Z says "Ok, let's get you dolled up"

We spent a long time (Z would never let me see the clock so I'm not sure exactly how long it took us) getting ready for Hogsmead because we both had dates. Z was going with Ben and I was going with Scor. I didn't really do much, I washed my hair, put on a little makeup, put on jeans and a cute babydoll t-shirt, and I was done. Scor is still my best friend, us going out wasn't going to change that. Well, it would change that but we would be friends. This was a different mindset then the one I had at 3 in the morning. It was strange, as the date grew closer, I was becoming calmer.

But this Hogsmead day was Ben and Z's first official date and Z, not having known Ben as well as I knew Scor, was freaking out. Finally, she had finished getting ready after felt like forever. ("Should I wear green or blue?" "Do you know Ben's favorite color?") we set off to the Great Hall to meet our dates.

Now, I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. I knew Scor, but being friends and going out with someone are completely different scenarios. "Z, do you think that Scor and I are doing the right thing by going out? What if we breakup or fight or something and it is never the same between us?" Now, I'm really worried.

Z rolls her eyes at me "Pep talk time already?" she scoffs "You and Scor are absolutely perfect together; yin and yang. He's all calm and mysterious and you've inherited the Weasley temper. You balance each other out. Frankly, you guys are perfect for each other and what is even better is the fact that you guys are already best friends so you know each other really well. And, come on its like two classic love stories combined: the boy and the girl: best friends turned lovers, and Romeo and Juliet: he's a Malfoy, you're a Weasley but against all odds you are together. And finally, your mom and dad were best friends since first year, like you and Scor and look at where that got them: married with two kids and still best friends."

Z takes a deep breath after saying all of this. I stare at her blankly, "So how long have you been preparing that speech?" I ask.

Z smirks "First year." Right, should've seen that one coming. I roll my eyes at her and at this point, we reach the Great Hall.

When I see Scor, dressed in dark Muggle jeans and a grey hoodie, all my doubts disappeared. I smiled at him and his grey eyes lighted up and he smiled back. He offered his hand to me, and we start walking hand in hand towards Hogsmead.

We're walking in a comfortable silence until Al comes up from behind us. "Thanks guys," he says sarcastically "way to leave me with Z and _him_." Al has still not gotten used to the presence of Ben, and refuses to call him by his name.

Scor and I exchange glances uncomfortably. We love Al, but we don't want him with us on our date and we don't want him to be lonely. But, before we can say anything, Luka Vine and Brody Lee motion Al to come over to him.

"Do you guys mind?" Al asks quickly, but I can tell he's already made up his mind and walks toward the two boys without giving me and Scor a second glance.

Scor raises his eyebrows at me and I giggle. Our hands entwined, we walk slowly throughout Hogsmead not really talking about anything in particular. We wander into Honeydukes (I didn't want to go to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes for obvious reasons) we decided to have a contest as to who could eat the most sour pops. The candies were extremely sour and burned my tongue.

"Ha! I beat you!" Scor yells at me.

I stick my tongue out at me and then he starts laughing at me. "What?" I ask.

He points to my tongue, but can't say anything because he is laughing so hard. I then realize that my tongue has turned the exact color green as the sour pops. Scor's tongue was even worse because he had eaten even more.

We were laughing hysterically that soon we can barely breathe. James and Fred enter the shop at this point, probably seeing a strange sight: me and Scor leaning on each other for support while laughing hysterically, our tongues both neon green.

"Are you guys on drugs?" James asks us seriously.

This just starts us off all over again and we laugh even harder. I'm gasping for breath, trying to answer him, when Z and Ben enter Honeydukes too. Z sees me and Scor and smirks and walks over, Ben in tow.

"Do you have any idea what is going on with them?" James asks her incredulously. Meanwhile, our laughter seems to be contagious because Freddie is starting to laugh just as hard as we are.

Z chuckles, "Well is it not obvious?" James and Ben look at her like she's crazy. She rolls her eyes "They had a competition to see who could eat the most Sour Pops. Scor won the competition but they both realized the ridiculous shade of green their tongues turned, so they are now laughing hysterically about this. And then, when you came in and asked them if they were on drugs, they thought that was hilarious, so they started laughing hysterically again."

James and Ben look at her, dumbfounded.

"I have the Eye." Z says, then starts walking away "C'mon Benny I want some chocolate!" She yells and Ben quickly follows after her.

Something strikes me right at this moment, "Ben is like Z's puppy, he follows her everywhere." James and Freddie roll their eyes at me and walk away without saying anything. Scor catches my eyes and this seems to be our cue to burst out laughing again.

"He's….like…her…puppy…" we say to each other in between laughs.

The people in the store are starting to give us annoyed looks so we decided to go outside. We walked out still giggling, holding hands and made our way towards the Shrieking shack.

Every Hogsmead day, I tried to make a visit to the Shrieking shack. It just has so much history; it's really significant to Uncle Harry, James, Al, Lily and Teddy. And since I grew up with them I've grown to appreciate the shelter.

By this time Scor and I had quieted down and were stealing glances at each other. When we reached the Shrieking Shack, we stood close together, his arms around me, and I leaned into his chest, perfectly content. It was a little chilly, so the closeness gave us warmth.

Suddenly, Scor looked at me and smirked.

"What?" I ask, curious.

He smirks again, but doesn't say anything. Instead, he leans down and brings his face towards mine. My eyes meet his eyes and my breath catches. I look down, embarrassed. This time, he smiles genuinely and lifts his hand under my chin and tilts my head up so I'm looking at him.

I close my eyes, and then we're kissing. Now, I've been kissed before, but never like this. We kissed slowly and deeply, enjoying every second of the kiss. Scor's arms tighten around my waist and my arms wrap around his neck and pull him closer.

"Oi!" someone shouts. We break apart to see Al, Luke and Brody are standing there. "I know you're in lurve and what not" Al is yelling at us "but I'd prefer not to see my cousin and my best friend snogging!"

Feeling devious, I wink at Scor then say "Well, it's better than you having to watch Z and Ben snog!" I yell right back at him, and then peck Scor on the lips. We laugh at Al's uncomfortable-ness.

"C'mon, let's go back to school." I say. And as we grudgingly walk towards the school, we are joined by Z and Ben. Al rolls his eyes, but no one else does anything. We laugh and joke around, but I know that as soon as we get back to our dorm room tonight, Z is going to interrogate me about my date, then spill all the details of her date.

But for now, I enjoy my perfect happiness.

**A/N: I'm so so so sorry! It's just been so crazy! I've had tryouts and so much homework! I know this one is really short, but I promise the next chapters will be longer to make up for it. Hopefully they will be up quicker too! Please review! And again, I'M SOO SORRY!!!!**

**~wwccd**


	14. The D word

**Baby, you're lost, Baby you're lost**

**Baby you're lost cause**

**I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of figthing**

**Fighting for a lost cause**

**~Beck**

**Chapter 13---**

_**Mackenzie's **_**POV**

I was staring out the window of the Owlery. The Hogwarts grounds were covered in snow and many of the younger students were playing and making snow angels. The older students actually have work to do, so most likely they were inside, studying.

I sighed, I wasn't sure how long I'd been up here, but I knew it had been awhile since I had left Ben and gone to post a letter to my brother. Christmas was drawing nearer, and I still had no idea what I was going to do over break. Also, it had been a long time since I had talked to my family and I needed to be informed on family news. Rose and Al and of course the rest of their family had invited me up for Christmas break, so I also sent a letter to Dad asking his permission, among other things.

Then, I heard footsteps behind me and I quickly turned.

"Jeez, Kenzie, did you know you've been up here for an hour and a half?" Al asks me as he enters. The first thought I think is: wow. He's in muggle clothes because it's a Saturday and he's wearing jeans and a green t-shirt that matches his piercing green eyes. I make a quick mental note of all this before I answer him.

"Ah, well see I came here because I had to send letters to my family asking if it would be possible for me to go to your place this break and then….well you know how good I am at procrastinating." I smile at him as I say this.

Al chuckles, "Very true, it's your fault I can never concentrate on my homework! You're always trying to do anything to get out of doing work!"

I stick my tongue out at him like the mature person I am. "Well, it helps that you are so easy to distract." I wink at him. I try not to focus too much on the double meaning of what I just said, but Al seems to have no problem ignoring this.

He rolls his eyes, "Fine, fine, let's get you downstairs and attempt homework." He starts to walk away.

"Nooo, don't leave me!" I scream. Then I run and pounce on his back. Somehow, he manages to maneuver his body so that he's giving me a piggyback ride.

"You're lucky I have fast reflexes" Al says while laughing.

"I'm also lucky I trust you" I say while giggling "not many people can catch me. Now run my noble horse! Run!"

We ran (well, Al ran, I was on his back) through the halls dodging suits of armor and innocent bystanders, laughing the entire way back to the Gryffindor Tower.

The Fat Lady stares at us mundanely, "Password?"

The funny thing is she doesn't even really act like anything is out of the ordinary, which sets me off laughing. Then, Al starts laughing too. The Fat Lady sighs exasperatedly.

"S-s-sorry," I try to say while laughing. Then, I hear a giggle behind us; Rose and Scor are looking at us incredulously trying to decide whether or not to laugh.

"Lemon Drop," Rose says clearly, and the portrait swings open.

We all troop into the Common Room, and then Al dumps me on a couch. I close my eyes, but he quickly interrupts my plans for sleeping.

"C'mon Kenzie, homework time!" he says while trying to pull me up off the couch.

I groan, "Al, you're the one who put me down on this couch!" He laughs at me.

"And now, I'm going to take you off the couch!" he grabs me so one hand is under my knees and the other is around my shoulders, carrying me bridal style.

I smile up at him, "Where to now, Cap'n?" I ask. He looks around and then realizes he hasn't totally thought this plan through.

Or, at least, I thought he hadn't. He smiles mischievously, then he throws me back on the couch and pounces on me, tickling me. Damn, he knows how ticklish I am. I start laughing so hard I can't breathe "Hahaha ok…truce!! Hahahaha" I exclaim.

Mercifully, he stops and we lock eyes. I realize that even though we're in the common room still, it's completely empty. I'm breathing hard trying to catch my breath, and we just stare at each other. Then, Scor and Rose come downstairs (from different staircases, respectively).

"Time for homework, Z, or we all know you'll never get it done!" Rose orders me in her sing song voice.

Al gets up, and Scor hands him his books. I sigh and sit down to do my homework. "But I get a treat if I finish it, right Mommy?" I ask Rose in my baby voice. We all giggle and then get started on our homework.

* * *

The next morning was a quiet affair. At breakfast, my friends and I sat there, obviously still trying to wake up while the rest of the hall titters. I hear the sound of wings and look up, the owls are coming in with the mail.

The good thing about being a witch is that the post comes every day of the week, so it doesn't matter that it's a Sunday. I quickly recognize my owl, Thaddeus, flying towards me. I realize what a quick reply this would be from my family.

Thaddeus reaches me, and she gives me a quick peck on the finger. I give her a little piece of crust from my toast. "Thanks, Thaddie, you cute little bird," I coo "you must have been flying all night to get this to me."

Al snorts at me, he doesn't believe in talking to animals, but I ignore him and open my letter.

_Kenz,_

_I hope this reaches you quickly, I asked Thaddie to be sure you got this ASAP. No girls in my life, sorry, I know how much you wanted to intimidate some unlucky girl. Nate is doing pretty well, all things considering. Good to know your friends have invited you to spend break with them, you probably won't want to spend it at home. Dad says to send you his love. And now, there is some big news. Dad and Mom are getting a divorce._

They're doing what now?!?! I almost choke on my food.

_It probably will come as a shock to you, but things haven't been too good around here lately. You know they fight, but, well, they fight a lot more often now. I think it's a good thing, you know that Dad deserves to be freed from The Bitch. Just thought you might want to know this, it might be best to stay away from home this Christmas. The Bitch is not too happy about the recent development. _

_Love,_

_Xander_

I stare at the letter, not totally comprehending. Divorce? I mean, I knew my mom could be kind of…well, bitchy, but I always thought she would get over it. I also realize that this is the first time I have ever heard Xander call mom The Bitch. I always called her that when she was being really mean to me, but Xander was too sweet and never adopted the nickname. Things must be really bad at home. And it was all my fault.

I look up to realize that Rose, Al and Scor are all looking at me. I quickly tuck my letter in the crook of my arm. "I'm not hungry anymore." I say quietly and then I leave the table.

Walk. Breathe. Don't cry. I repeat this mantra the entire way to the door of the Great Hall. I almost made it, too. "Z!" someone exclaims they were on the other side of the door that I opened.

I look at the boy, trying to remember him. Oh! "Hey Ben," I said quietly. "Look I'm not feeling too well, so-"

"Are you ok? Do you need me to walk you back to your dormitory?" Ben asks quickly

Now, normally I'm sure any other girl would be grateful to her boyfriend taking such great concern over her well being. But, seeing as I'm not any other girl, I brush him aside, "Um, no thanks Ben I'll be okay." I quickly mutter to him, running away.

I'm sure I left a very confused boy behind. I ran all the way to the seventh corridor. I quickly got the letter out again and reread it. As I was reading, memories came back to me. My mom braiding my hair for my sixth birthday party, us dancing around room while the boys were watching star wars (a muggle movie), me crying to her when my brother had pushed me down a flight of stairs and I had skinned my knees. Divorce. Divorce was permanent. We would never be the same family again. We would never go on family vacations, I would have two addresses.

I felt tears pricking in my eyes. I decided that I could make an exception, even though it wasn't my Doom Day, I felt I had a right to cry.

"Kenzie?" I hear Al ask quietly. I turn and see him standing a few meters behind me. I realize that he has been behind me the whole time. I just stare at him.

He rushes towards me and hugs me. "What does the letter say?" I hand it to him, wordlessly, and wait. I watch as his green eyes scan the parchment, reading the quick letter that ended my family as I knew it.

My head is pressed to his chest and I feel the vibrations of his voice as he says to me, "Of course you can come with us over Christmas. You know that."

I wrap my arms around his waist and bury my head in his chest. "I know. You're family is amazing" my voice cracks while saying this.

He brings his arm around me and hugs me tight. We stay there for an immeasurable amount of time. Just hugging each other, and for now I don't need to cry.

But, of course, everything must come to an end. "Thanks," I whisper, letting my arms fall to my sides.

Al looks at me concerned, I remember Ben looking at me like this and getting irritated with him. For some reason, it doesn't matter when Al is concerned for me.

"I'm going to tell my mum that you're coming for break." Al says to me "She and my dad will be thrilled, they love you."

I look away from him. His arm reaches out and his hand cups my face, making me look back towards him "Hey," he says.

I look at him "I know that it will be okay." I say to him, "I know that in the end, with time, everything will be fine. And I know that my mom was terrible towards me and I'm sure that you know I complain about her all the time. But, she's my mom. And my dad is, well, my dad. If you had seen them in the early days you would know they were meant for each other. Them being apart officially, by law, it's weird." I'm looking straight into Al's eyes, trying to get him to understand.

"I mean," I sigh. "I don't know what I mean. It's too strange to comprehend."

Al studies me. "I have no idea what you're going through right now." He says. Well, duh. I'm sure my face says the same thing as my thoughts.

"But," he continues "I do know that chocolate and friends help everything." He offers his hand to me and I take it as we run together through the corridors of Hogwarts, towards the kitchen.

We reach the portrait, tickled the pear, greeted the elves, and got the chocolate all in record time. As we were running back to the Gryffindor Tower, still holding hands, we ran into someone. "Oh!" I exclaimed. "Sorry!" Then I help the person from the ground, before realizing that it was my boyfriend. Whoops. I quickly drop Al's hand.

"Hey Ben" I say.

He kind of glares at me, "How are you feeling?" he asks harshly.

Subconsciously, I glance at Al, his face is hard and he's glaring at Ben and frowning.

I sigh "I could be better,"

Ben rolls his eyes at me. What is up with him? "Yeah, you seem to be feeling much better now that _Albus Potter_ is with you." He says disdainfully.

Now, it's my turn to glare. "What are you trying to say, Ben?" I ask defensively.

Now, no one probably knew this, but this fight had been coming for a long time. On the surface, Ben and I were pretty much like any other couple; we went out on dates in Hogsmead, held hands, and kissed occasionally, but he was always asking about Al, was Al still dating Sasha? Is Al my best friend? Do I tell Al everything? Etc. It was like he had an obsession with Al, for some reason, and it got on my nerves.

"I'm sure you know what I'm trying to say, Mackenzie!" Ben quickly yells at me. Luckily, no one else is around to hear the fight.

"Don't yell at her!" Al yells at Ben.

"She's my girlfriend and I'll yell at her if I want to!" Ben yells back.

Ok, now I'm angry. "Excuse me?! You think you have the right to yell at me?!"

Ben glares at me. "You know what, we're over!" he yells "I can't believe I was concerned for your health and wondering if I should bring you something to cheer you up while you were off having a fun adventure with your _best friend! _Albus Potter isn't bloody perfect!"

I whip out my wand and yell "_Pretrificous Totalus_!" Ben becomes still, and then falls to the floor. I stomp over to him, "I am not your property! You have no right to yell at me! For your information I wasn't feeling well because I got a note from my brother saying that my parents are getting a divorce! Not that I have any reason to explain myself to you! Al was just being a good friend and I was starting to feel better until I ran into _you!_ You had no right to assume things were other than friendly! But fine! If you want our relationship to be over; it is! We're DONE! You stupid little jealous-"

But before I can finish my rant, Al pulls be to him by my waist. "C'mon Z, let's go before someone hears us and finds him." And we leave quickly. But not before one last glare at my petrified ex-boyfriend.

* * *

**A/N:** **ok, wow :0 a lot of things happened in this chapter! please review and the next chapter will be up soon!!! I kinda felt that the song in the beginning is similar to something that Z's Dad might think about her mom, so i just put it in there. Hope you liked it!! :) Haha, i also thought my title was clever because of _D_ivorce and Z yells to Ben that they are _D_one**

**P.S.: just a litle hint: people are not always who they seem....**

**~wwccd**


	15. Its Beginning to Look a Lot like Xmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas  
Ev'rywhere you go;  
Take a look in the five-and-ten, glistening once again  
With candy canes and silver lanes aglow.  
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,  
Toys in ev'ry store,  
But the prettiest sight to see is the holly that will be  
On your own front door.

~ James Pierpont

Chapter 14----

_**Roses' **_**POV**

James had called another family meeting.

Z and Scor had shooed me and Al away saying that they'd find something better to do than "converse with the Weasley/Potter tribe about things that were bound to be mundane" (and I'm quoting here.)

I sigh, assuring myself silently that this meeting won't take too long, I've got loads of stuff I'd rather do: hang out with Scor, hang out with Z, kiss Scor, laugh with Scor, ok you get the picture.

James ushers us inside the Room of Requirement in his obnoxiously pompous way. The Room has changed itself into a Muggle Meeting Area. A long table, dark wood table is in the center of the room, with 12 rolling, comfortable chairs around it. On one wall there is a whiteboard with a large heading in black reading **Weasley/Potter Family Meeting **in James' almost unreadable scrawl.

We each take our appointed seats, with James at the head, Al and Freddie on either side of him (Freddie on his right, Al on his left) I sat down next to Al, taking my rightful place, with Lily sitting across from me and Hugo sat next to Lily. The Weasley/Potters (and at one point, Lupin) used to take up the entire table, but now only six chairs were needed.

James cleared his throat and banged his fist on the table "Ok, so I assume you guys know what we're going to be discussing today". Um, no, actually Mr. James-I-am-the-leader-because-I-am-the-oldest-Potter has neglected to tell us what the meeting is about, exactly. We all stare at him blankly.

"Right, ok, well, our dear grandmother, Molly Weasley, and our mothers and fathers, have granted each of us permission to bring a friend or maybe, if you're lucky two friends, along to our wonderful, chaotic Christmas celebration this year." James clarifies.

Al and I exchange glances. It's obvious that I will pick Z and he will pick Scor, which puts me and Scor in the awkward position of possibly explaining to the entire Weasley/Potter/Lupin (Lupin is added at the end because of Teddy and his wife, my cousin Victoire and their daughter Isabel) clan that we are dating. But, I'll have to discuss with Scor and see what we're going to do about that.

James brings me back into reality "Ok, so I have to make a list of who will be attending our great Christmas bash this year! I am bringing Owen," he starts writing stuff down on a piece of parchment, so I don't think he realizes that Lily just got a lot happier. Generally, when we invite our guest(s) to our bash, the guest stays at the house, so that means that Lily will be seeing a lot of Owen over break.

"And Freddie will bring Frank," James continues, oblivious. "Wait," I interrupt, "what about Alice? I mean she and Frank are twins and they do almost everything together!"

James pauses to consider this, seeing as he likes Alice…. "Hm…Fredster?" James asks hopefully.

"Well…I'll talk to my mom" Fred said doubtfully "but I'm not sure, mate."

James turns his puppy dog eyes to Lily. "Oh no," Lily says "I'm not inviting Alice just because you're in love with her!!!" she screeches. I pause for a minute to admire the irony. I mean James invited Lily's love over (granted without knowing but Lily won't invite James' love over.

James is looking uncomfortable. Probably because he didn't realize we all know that he loves Alice, but he doesn't saying anything, so I decide to take pity on him.

"I can talk to my mum, I guess" I say and James shoots me a grateful look. "Z is over all the time we could argue that she's already family anyway and mum never minds having extra company." I offer.

"Ok, so that issue is settled." James declares. "Now, I'm assuming that Al is inviting Scor and Rosie is inviting Z, so that just leaves Lily and Hugo."

Lily is thoughtful for a moment, "Well, mum said I could invite two friends…so I guess I'll take pity on Lauren Finnegan and invite her," James is glaring at her at this point, "and then I'll invite my friend Majerle (pronounced Marley) Rice."

James huffs dramatically, "Ok, fine, what about you Hugo? Who are you going to invite?"

Hugo immediately replies "Well, since Rose and Lily can invite two friends, then I'll invite Brody Lee and Luka Vane."

I roll my eyes, "Hugo, I don't actually know if I can invite two people yet, I just said that I would ask!" I scold him.

Hugo rolls his eyes back at me, "Yeah, but we all know that mum will be totally fine with it."

Hm, that is probably true. James starts to go on about things that rather bore me, so I stop paying attention and zone out.

I was staring out the window at the Lake. It was practically frozen over because we had gotten a lot of snow this year. I remember sitting there with Scor not too long ago, just sitting and talking about random things with the occasional sneaky kiss and sigh in contentment. Suddenly, I hear the chairs rolling backwards and look up. The meeting is over!

Al and I walk back to the Gryffindor Common Room together, trying to find Z and Scor. Al lets out a sigh.

"Thinking about Z and Ben?" I ask slyly. I've been trying to convince Al to just tell Z that he's in bloody love with her already but he doesn't seem to listen to me. In fact, he just gets really annoyed when I bring the whole thing up. See, especially after the whole Z/Al/Ben incident in the hall….things have been… well, different.

I remember back to that day well…

* * *

***Flashback***

Scor and I had just finished wandering aimlessly around Hogwarts. We went to the Gryffindor Common Room to settle down in front of the fire and maybe play some Exploding Snap when we ran into Z and Al.

They went into this detailed description about how Ben was being a bastard etc. etc. and how he was yelling at Z and annoying and jealous of Al because of his and Z's friendship.

Then, Sasha enters the room and says in her snooty little voice "So, Mackenzie" (at this point I feel the need to explain that Sasha is one of the few people who refuses to accept Z's nickname and calls her by her full name) "I heard that you and 'Benny' got into a fight." She smirks and laughs a little like this is actually funny.

"Oh really," Z says bitingly, "and how on earth would you hear such a thing."

Sasha taps her nose in an attempt to look like a spy, "I have my sources." She says. I think she's aiming at mysterious but she comes off more like a really ugly girl picking her nose.

Z rolls her eyes "Oh give it up, Sasha, stop trying to get a rise out of me. This is getting ridiculous."

Then Sasha goes all weird and scrunches up her face, "'She's my girlfriend and I'll yell at her if I want to!" she says.

Z gasps, "YOU BITCH! How did you get a hold of polyjuice potion?!?"

Scor, Al and I exchange glances, thinking that surely she must be crazy and Sasha looks at her, shocked.

Z scoffs, "Oh please, I know that was not like Ben, and how else would you know those exact words?"

"Pshh…I was….hiding behind the wall!" Sasha says.

Now of all the things Sasha is, a bad liar is definitely at the top of the list. It's kind of a shame because she acts all devious and like she owns the world, but she can't lie for crap. And unfortunately for Sasha, Z can smell out a lie easily; probably because she has so much experience about lying herself.

***End Flashback***

* * *

Sasha had gotten in major trouble with both Z and Al and now Al is pissed off because Z and Ben are still together. Poor Al, he thought he was out of the woods, but then Sasha ruined everything.

It took me the longest time to figure out why Sasha would do this, it seemed like it would be counterproductive for her because then both Al and Z would be free to get together. I decided to just deem her as stupid and move on with my life.

Al scoffs and rolls his eyes at me, zapping me out of my trance.

"No, I have better things to do then think of them." He says harshly. It takes me awhile to remember my question, but I realize I had asked him if he was thinking about Z and Ben.

I give him the glare. The all-knowing cousin glare that says "I know you love her. Suck it up and tell her!"

Al rolls his eyes again, "I don't love her, Rose, plus she has a boyfriend."

I sigh in impatience "I know that _Albus_ I hear about him all the time" (insert eye roll) "but if you decided to confess your love for her, she would totally dump him!"

By this time, we had reached the common room so I didn't get the chance to hear Al's answer. Z and Scor are sitting by the fire staring down at a piece of parchment intently; taking turns writing on said piece of parchment. I exchange glances with Al, neither of us knowing what to expect.

We walk over to them and I look over Scor's shoulder. I snort.

Z glances up, "Rose, can't you see we're doing something extremely important?!?" she gasps, "We're having a best-friend-boredom meeting! I am appalled that you would interrupt such a thing!"

I roll my eyes and let out another snort of laughter.

Al looks at the piece of parchment, "Guys, you're playing tic-tac-toe." He says.

Z sticks her tongue out at him. "Yes, but this game is majorly important! It decides who the tic-tac-toe champion is! Now, go sit over there, it bothers us to have an audience."

Scor gives me a sympathetic look but winks. Al and I retreat to the other side of the common room, still watching our friends intently. A few seconds later, Z calls out to us,

"Ok, you guys can come back over" she says with a dejected sigh.

"Who won?" Al asks.

"The cat."

"The cat?" he asks her incredulously.

"Yep, we've had twenty cat's games all in a row. Neither Scor nor I have won once!!" At this point, Scor throws in his own dejected look.

"…."

"I think I need a hug." (Cue cutesy pouty face) Z proclaims.

We both roll our eyes at her and Al sits down on the couch.

Scor offers his hand and I take it. He pulls me down onto his lap and kisses me on the cheek. Then, he gives me his own puppy dog face, "It's true you know that cat is one bloody hell of a player!" I giggle and smack his face lightly.

"So how was your family meeting?" Z asks both of us.

"Boring," Al and I reply at the same time. "I didn't even know what James was talking about most of the time!" I cry. Then I think of something, "Oh, by the way, Z, you're coming over for Christmas." She smiles happily at this; I knew she didn't want to be at her house during the divorce.

"Cool. I can't wait to see what exciting things the Weasley/Potter/Lupin tribe is going to do this year!" she smiles brightly, "Ooo and Al you're parent's anniversary is coming up!"

Al looks at her, "How do you remember this stuff? I can barely remember their birthdays and they're my own parents!"

Z shakes her head scolding, "you need to make more of an effort Albus,".

He rolls his eyes and sticks his tongue out at her.

I giggle, but look at Scor. While Al and Z get into a argument over which muggle superhero is better (Z says Spiderman, but Albus is pulling for Batman) I whisper quietly in his ear.

"We need to talk about Christmas,"

He looks at me, clearly confused, "I haven't exactly told my family that we're dating…." I mention.

He raises his eyebrows at me. Isn't he the conversationalist?

"It's going to be awkward and horrible and terrible and my family will either go crazy that I'm dating a Malfoy or start saying how they knew we would be together from the very beginning! They're going to scare you away!" I whisper quickly, but quietly into his ear.

He chuckles, "Believe me, if I was going to be scared away, I'm sure already would've run far far away by now instead of going over to your families' houses over almost every break."

"I'm serious though, you do not know what you're signing up for."

"Rose, I've been around your family long enough to know what I'm getting myself into."

I sigh, realizing that I won't be able to get through to him. Well, it was worth a shot, right? "Fine, have it your way."

He chuckles and I peck him on the lips. And we sit there, with me on his lap, watching our friends fight over Muggle Superheroes, occasionally sneaking kisses and laughing at their stupidity.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to get out...life's been crazy. I really hope you like it!! Hopefully, the next chapter will be out faster. I know the whole Sasha/Ben/Z/Al thing was weird...but I didn't really want to do a whole chapter solely on that kind of stupid sub-plot so I just stuck it in here. I know the song is lame, I'm terribly sorry, forgive me. Next chapter is Christmas! Please REVIEW you'll be my bestest friend :) Cheers,**

**~wwccd**


	16. Winter Wonderland

**Chapter 15---**

_**Mackenzie's **_**POV**

If someone asked me where the one place in the world I would want to be at Christmastime, it would be The Burrow. Christmastime at the Burrow is probably the most massive, chaotic, entertaining event to take place all year.

Of course, you have Molly and Arthur Weasley, the Heads of the tribe. They love to have everyone around even though they're getting on in age.

Next, you have the Bill Weasleys (you have to specify): Bill and his wife Fleur, Victoire (now technically, she's a Lupin but I'll get to that later), Dominique and her boyfriend Ralph, and Louis and his flavor of the month (he generally goes for blondes that none of us really like).

Next, you have Charlie Weasley. One time, Charlie brought a dragon to the Christmas Eve dinner. That was an interesting affair in itself. Anyway, Charlie is a bachelor and doesn't have any illegitimate children (that we know of) so it's just him.

Then, we have the Percy Weasleys: Percy and his wife Audrey, Molly (sometimes she brings a date, but for the most part, she flies solo), and Lucy. Lucy never brings a date unless she's really serious about him (which happened once) because she doesn't like to scare off her love interests by bringing them to meet the family.

The George Weasleys are next: George and his wife Alicia, Roxanne (who is basically a female version of Louis, always bringing someone different) and of course Fred II.

Next would be the Ron Weasleys: Ron and his wife Hermione (nee Granger and two thirds of the Golden Trio), Rose, and Hugo.

Now, the Potters are a different story. Technically Mrs. Potter is a Weasley so I could say the Ginny Weasleys; but their name is Potter….whatever. At any Rate, the Potters consist of Harry and his wife Ginny (nee Weasley), James, Albus, and Lily.

Another family also in attendance is a smaller, but growing family: the Lupins. Teddy Lupin is Harry's godson, so he was just adopted into the crazy family, but another tie really made him related: his wife Victoire, daughter of Bill and Fleur Weasley. They now have a daughter Isabel and are expecting another baby soon, but they do not know the sex of the baby just yet because they want to be surprised. Isabel is a Metamorphagus just like her father and is a real cutie.

Finally, you have the guests of the family members. Now, that's 26 people in all, not including the guests. I'm kind of amazed that the Weasleys want guests. Including me and Scor (who come almost every year) there are nine guests coming this year from Hogwarts plus whoever Louis and Roxanne are bringing which leaves the total head count to be 37 people.

Of course, not everyone is staying at The Burrow, that's just where we all convene for the celebrations.

* * *

I was jolted awake by Rose hitting me.

"Rose!!!" I groan whilst not opening my eyes, "is that really necessary?!"

"Only when I've been trying to wake you up for the past 5 minutes and you refuse to wake up!" Rose says.

I open my eyes and squint at her and realize that we are the only two people in the carriage. "Where are Scor and Al?"

"They went to get changed in the loo, but they'll be back soon so you should get changed."

I sigh and heave my trunk down from the overhead compartment, grab jeans and, a t-shirt and sweater and quickly replace my trunk. I noticed Rose had already changed, probably before trying to wake me up.

I quickly change into my jeans and was just putting on my t-shirt when the compartment opened.

"Oh, shit, sorry-"Al says while trying to look away.

I roll my eyes at him "its fine Al, it's just pretend I'm wearing a bathing suit." I say as I pull the shirt over my head.

"So, has anyone heard any gossip about Dominique and Ralph?" I ask curiously, looking at Al and Rose as Al and Scor make themselves comfortable in our compartment again.

Al looks confused "Should I have?"

I sigh, "I guess not."

I have been waiting for Ralph to propose to Dominique for _ages_. They're such a cute couple and have been going out a long time. He has been to almost as many Weasley Christmases as I have! I thought that maybe this year would be the year that dear old Ralphie decided to propose, but obviously not.

Rose sees my disappointed expresssion and nods "I feel the same way, he's taking forever!"

I giggle, but before I can reply the train stops. "Yes! We're here!!" I exclaim and jump up.

We make our way slowly to the station. Once we're outside the train, we follow the flow of people to a secluded corner where the Weasley/Potters are. "Mum, Dad!" James, Al, Lily, Rose and Hugo all exclaim at the same time. I laugh at how alike they sounded there, proving the fact that they are related.

Hugs and kisses go all around to the parents/aunts/uncles and soon Scor and I are acknowledged.

"Z!" Ginny Potter greets me.

"Hi Ginny!" I say excitedly as I hug her. "Long time no see!"

She laughs, "I know! It's been six months!"

I lower my voice "I'll give you reports later, but for the most part they were all behaved."

She winks at me and I smile back at her, the turn to greet her husband Harry.

"Hey Harry!"

He smiles at me, "Hey there Z" he says while he hugs me.

I notice him looking in the direction of Ginny and Scor. To everyone else it looks like he's looking at Scor but I know that he's looking lovingly at his wife. I casually make a mental note to myself to remember that their anniversary is coming up.

I smirk and turn again and see Ron Weasley. "Why, hello Ronald!" I say in greeting.

He rolls his eyes in my direction, "Hello Mackenzie!"

I stick my tongue out at him in retaliation. "Fine, hey Ron"

He laughs at me "Hey Z"

"Just to let you know, I'm still angry with you."

"About what?"

"You never gave me a lesson on how to play wizard's chess!"

He laughs again "Well, we'll just have to do this time around, yeah?"

I nod in approval at him, and then turn my attention to Hermione.

"Hey Hermione!" I say enthusiastically.

"Hello Z" she says and hugs me tightly.

"I need some good recommendations for books; I'm dying a slow death of literature boredom." I confide in her.

She laughs "of course I'll be able to help you out."

Next, I had to greet George (I told you there's a lot of flicking people!). "Hey George!" I squeal at him.

"Z!" He cries jubilantly has he spins me around while hugging me, "I heard that you and the boys played some great pranks this semester!" he whispered in my ear while winking.

"I'm appalled! I had nothing to do with those pranks that James and Fred played!" I reply snootily.

All the kids let out a snort of laughter behind me. "Well, I mean besides planning them…and taking part in them…and getting a detention for one of them…But other than that I didn't do anything!"

But George just laughs and high-fives me, then turns to great Scor.

The last person I greet on the platform is Angelina. Angelina is a cute brunette, about the same height as me who is really quite shy. It's strange because she is pretty much the opposite of George, but I guess it's as they say 'opposites attract'.

"Hi Angelina," I say more quietly for fear of scaring her.

She smiles shyly back at me then says quietly "Hi, Z it's been so long."

I smile genuinely at her, "It really has; I love your robes!" I squeal.

Angelina is an amazing dressmaker. She really has a great sense of style and I know for a fact that her shop in Diagon Alley is one of the most visited shops ever. Witches come from all over the world to have them make their wedding dresses. She actually made Victoire's wedding dress a couple years ago, and it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. Angelina spent some time in France over the years, so she always knew what was going on in both the Muggle and Wizardring world fashions.

"Thanks," she says humbly, "I love your hair!"

I giggle, "I was bored one day…and this happened!"

She chuckles and is about to say more until we are rudely interrupted.

Ron clears his throat, "Well, let's go its bloody freezing and we have to go to the Burrow for the first feast tonight, and I'm also bloody hungry!"

"Ronald!" Hermione laughingly scolds but after looking at her pocketwatch seems to agree with her husband, " Ron's right it is getting late, we might as well go, I suppose."

Rose, Hugo, Alice, Brody, Luka and I say a quick goodbye to James, Owen, Lily, Majerle, Lauren, Scor, and Al and then we make the way to the car.

The car ride passed quite uneventfully, all of us tired from our long journey.

We troop into the Ron/Hermione Weasley house, a cute, modest sized house not too far from the Potter residence, 12 Grimmauld Place. Rose, Alice and I are sharing her room, which size has been magically altered to fit us three girls comfortably, while Brody, Luka and Hugo are sharing Hugo's room.

Rose and I throw on cuter clothes which actually means we put on different shirts. I throw on a white v-neck and Rose throws on a matching green v-neck and we set off to the Burrow.

Luckily, we didn't have to use the Flew Network to get to the Burrow; Hermione decided that since there were so many of us, we would just use Rose's old hairbrush as a portkey.

When we arrived at the Burrow, things were already out of control. I quickly said hi again to all those I had seen on the platform, and then began greeting those I hadn't seen with quick hugs. Faces flashed before me, Molly (the elder one), Arthur, Bill, Fleur, Dominique, Ralph, Louis, some blond bimbo, Percy, Audrey, Molly (the younger), Lucy, Teddy, Victoire, Isabel…it was never ending.

When things finally started to settle down, we all went to the dining table outside in a huge white tent. We couldn't all fit inside the Burrow so every year Molly and Arthur set up a huge tent (complete with warming charms) so we could all eat in one long, loud, obnoxious, chaotic mess.

The table was nicely decorated. Kind of… well there was no table cloth (did that one year….stained it…even with magic the stains were difficult to get off)… There were soft candles flickering which gave the tent a warm, homey atmosphere. But there were napkin rings on the paper napkins that matched the paper plates. I think the only reason there were napkin rings because one time George, Louis, James, Fred, and Al saw the Lord of the Rings at a Muggle movie rental and were deeply disappointed that there were no napkin rings so they couldn't pretend to have _The Ring_ and therefore they complained about it for ages, so Molly finally gave in.

Everyone just kind of randomly sat down in no particular order hoping that the meal wouldn't start without them.

Arthur pounded on the table trying to get everybody's attention. It wasn't working out too well until he tapped his wand to his throat and magnified his voice "PLEASE BE QUIET SO I CAN MAKE A SPEECH BEFORE WE BEGIN TO EAT!"

Everything was dead silent. It was actually kind of funny if you thought about it and I resisted the urge to start laughing hysterically.

"THANK YOU." Arthur winced, I don't think he remember to take the spell off. "Ok, that's much better, Merry Christmas everyone! Ok, now you may eat."

I start laughing, what a phenomenal, life-changing, earth-shattering speech! I happen to notice that Ralphie and Dom are sitting opposite of me, while Rose and Al sit on either side of me and Lily and Scor a few seats down. Suddenly, I get a wicked idea.

I drum my fingers on the table, "So, Ralphie" I drawl, "How's life?"

He stares at me, "um…fine?" he asks uncertainly.

I noticed in my peripheral vision Al and Rose giving me strange looks but I chose to ignore them, decidedly on a mission that must not be abandoned.

I smirk at him. Then, I grab the golden napkin ring and slide it on my left ring finger. "No…big news so to announce?" I ask him again.

He clears his throat, "not that I can think of right now."

I wave my left hand around, showing off the ring, hoping he'll catch on. "Well, that's a shame. I daresay that your life sounds boring."

He laughs at me, "Z, I work with _goblins _my life is anything but boring."

Ralph works at Gringotts, which is how he met Bill and Fleur and was later introduced to Dominique. Uncle Bill said that he knew he'd regret introducing them in the future, but we all know that he really approves of Ralph.

I roll my eyes at him, but continue to torture him for the rest of the meal. Eventually, I'm actually able to get Rose and Lily to also casually slide the napkin rings on their fingers.

After dinner everyone milled around, going in different directions. The kids[and by kids I mean Teddy, Victoire (who had given Isabel over to the adults; even though Teddy and Victoire were married, we still considered them kids), Dominique, Ralph, Louis, BB (blond bimbo), Molly, Lucy, James, Frank, Owen, Alice, Lauren, Fred, Roxanne, MD (mystery dude), Brody, Luka, Lily, Majerle, Scor, Rose, Al, and I] ended up on the living room of the burrow. Everyone was talking; people were playing teams chess (which was becoming really intense) and just hanging out in general.

Scor and Rose were both sitting on one chair. Well, Scor was sitting on the chair and Rose was sitting on his lap, their hands and fingers entwined. I fleetingly wonder if they have had the opportunity to tell anyone that they're dating even though this isn't a recent development.

"Z why don't you give us a concert?" Rose suggest out of boredom.

I shrug at her, "I don't have my guitar."

Louis looks up from his allegedly boring conversation with BB ( I can tell because his eyes has this glazed kind of look and he didn't really seem to be talking much, BB was babbling away) and says "I've got my guitar if you want to use it, Z. I'm sure you've written a lot of songs since summer" he says while wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I roll my eyes and sigh "Well, I guess I could play a couple songs."

Louis summons his guitar and hands it to me.

"What should I play first guys?" I ask politely, trying to keep my audience entertained. Muggle Christmas carols is the unanimous vote among us so, I strum the guitar and begin to sing,

_Sleigh bells ring, are you listening,  
In the lane, snow is glistening  
A beautiful sight,  
We're happy tonight.  
Walking in a winter wonderland._

Gone away is the bluebird,  
Here to stay is a new bird  
He sings a love song,  
As we go along,  
Walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow we can build a snowman,  
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown

He'll say: Are you married?  
We'll say: No man,  
But you can do the job  
When you're in town

Later on, we'll conspire,  
As we dream by the fire  
To face unafraid,  
The plans that we've made,  
Walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow we can build a snowman,  
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown

He'll say: Are you married?  
We'll say: No man,  
But you can do the job  
When you're in town.

Later on, we'll conspire,  
As we dream by the fire  
To face unafraid,  
The plans that we've made,  
Walking in a winter wonderland.

To face unafraid,  
The plans that we've made,  
Walking in a winter wonderland  
Walking in a winter wonderlandSleigh bells ring, are you listening,  
In the lane, snow is glistening  
A beautiful sight,  
We're happy tonight.  
Walking in a winter wonderland.

Gone away is the bluebird,  
Here to stay is a new bird  
He sings a love song,  
As we go along,  
Walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow we can build a snowman,  
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown

He'll say: Are you married?  
We'll say: No man,  
But you can do the job  
When you're in town

Later on, we'll conspire,  
As we dream by the fire  
To face unafraid,  
The plans that we've made,  
Walking in a winter wonderland.

In the meadow we can build a snowman,  
Then pretend that he is Parson Brown

He'll say: Are you married?  
We'll say: No man,  
But you can do the job  
When you're in town.

Later on, we'll conspire,  
As we dream by the fire  
To face unafraid,  
The plans that we've made,  
Walking in a winter wonderland.

To face unafraid,  
The plans that we've made,  
Walking in a winter wonderland  
Walking in a winter wonderland

They all whoop and I laugh a little. Everyone claps and congratulates me on singing the repetitive song. Then, Lily pipes up "OOO!!! Can you sing that other song? What's it called?"

I have no clue what she's talking about but Owen seems to understand her perfectly and asks me to sing White Christmas. And so the night continues in happiness and muggle Christmas carols with all of us knowing that the best of Christmas vacation was yet to come.

* * *

**A/N: I am sooo sorry!!! So terribly sorry I will understand if you never forgive me! Things have been so horrifically chaotic which is no excuse I know, but i promise you that the next few chapters will be in a quick succession and will so much better in plot and character development then the rest of the chapters put together!!! Forgive me. :(**

**~wwccd**


	17. Inevitable

_I wanna be your last, first kiss_  
_That you'll ever have_  
_I wanna be your last, first kiss_

_Amazing how life turns out the way that it does_  
_We end up hurting the worst, the only ones we really love_

_-Anberlin_

**Chapter 16—**

_**Rose's **_**POV**

Scor and I had been friends for years. My parents knew that because I had sent a letter telling them that I was friends with a Malfoy (and to please not disown me) my first night at Hogwarts. It took my dad awhile to get used to the fact that his daughter was friends with a _Malfoy_ (note the emphasis) but eventually he got used to it and treated Scor with respect.

It took my dad even longer to actually be civil towards Mr. Malfoy. For the longest time he just called him "Malfoy" which was quickly confusing when all three Malfoys were over for dinner. After about third year, my dad (at first somewhat reluctantly) began to call Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy by their first names, Draco and Astoria. Granted, though he was civil and polite towards them they were still not good friends.

My mum was actually quite good friends with Astoria though because Astoria was a few years behind my parents in school and a Ravenclaw, so there is not a former prejudice for her to get over. My dad quite liked Astoria Malfoy as well (despite her last name and the fact that he thought she was crazy because she married Draco). In fact, Scor was so much alike his mom (with his dads looks) that my parents found it very hard to be rude towards either them.

Astoria Malfoy was a quiet, kind woman who had nothing bad to say about anyone. She had long, platinum blonde hair that reached about to her elbows. Her eyes were a piercing sapphire blue that could drag the truth out of any unwilling liar. She was firm but kind in her parenting style and loved to laugh about pretty much anything. She enjoyed keeping up on world events both wizarding and muggle world alike and she often found things to talk about with Hermione Weasley.

Draco Malfoy changed a lot since his early years at Hogwarts. He was no longer overly boastful and he seemed to realize that he had been beaten at his own game. At first, he seemed to have a cold demeanor but after talking to him for awhile, his standoffish ways melted, as he began to trust you. In this way, Scor was a lot like his father. Trust was a difficult thing for Draco ever since the war. He had trusted his father, and look at where that got him; and if you can't trust your father, then who can you trust? When Draco met Astoria, it was even more helpful for him. He began a new life with a wife and a darling kid. People in the Wizardring world were weary of Draco Malfoy for a long time before they got passed their prejudices. Now, Draco was well-known for his ability to cure, being a Healer at St. Mungo's was one of Draco's ways of atoning for his past mistakes.

However, though both of the Malfoys loved their child, they loved travelling more. Scor spent some time with his parents during the summer (maybe about a month or so) but that was about it. Basically, the Malfoys were selfish. They did whatever was easiest for them. They left it up to Scor whether or not he wanted to come with them during the hols but Scor often declined their invitation and spent time with us over the breaks. Scor felt that it was his obligation to spend some time with his parents (hence the one-month stint that he spends with them over summer break) but after his time with them is over, he just comes right back to the Weasley/Potter/Lupin crowd for some chaotic fun.

This is basically the only thing I know of Scor's relationship with his parents. I know that it is a very strange one and they all insist that they love each other; but if you love someone don't you want to spend a lot of time with them?

But, even though my parents finally were civil towards the Malfoys and accepted that Scorpious and I had been long-time friends, I was not ready to explain to them that we were, in fact, dating. Actually, I probably would have kept the whole thing a secret for as long as possible if I didn't know that if I didn't tell my parents, someone else would (James, Al, Lily, Z, pick your choose).

Scorpious, of course, wasn't worried at all. Everyone in my family loved him. And as far as his parents were concerned, they probably wouldn't care less if he told them he was dating the Giant Squid (or so I assumed). So, really, the only one freaking out here was me.

It is the second day of Christmas vacation and Z and Alice are still asleep in my room. Hugo, Brody and Luka are outside playing Quidditch in the snow but I am standing outside my parents' room, pacing. Should I tell them with Scor? Or just leave Scor out of it until my dad has calmed down? Will my dad freak out? Or will he surprise me and be totally ok with me dating a Malfoy? Questions were endlessly fluttering through my mind without any rhyme or reason to them.

Well, ok there was a reason: what in the bloody hell are my parents going to say when I tell them that I, Rose Weasley am dating Scorpious Hyperion Malfoy?!?

"Rosie!" my mom calls from inside her room, "stop pacing outside our door and come inside!"

I sigh. I should've known that my mom would realize I was outside; my mom knows all. I reach for the door handle and turn it slowly, opening the door with caution. I didn't need to worry though. My mom was in one of the chairs, reading while my dad was furiously scribbling on a piece of parchment with our owl Tina next to him.

"Um, mom, dad, I have to tell you something." I say as I brace myself for the worst.

Mum looks up from her book, sensing something in my tone of voice while my dad says "Hmm Rosie? What's going on?" but he's still scribbling on the parchment in his chicken scratch handwriting so I know I don't have his full attention.

"Well, I kind of have a boyfriend…" I start to say.

My dad's quill drops and he spills his carton of ink all over the parchment that he had been working so hard to write all over. "WHAT?!" he yells.

(I think I've got his attention now.)

"Ronald!" my mom scolds him quickly, then glancing at me, "Rose, sweetie, who is the lucky man?" she asks me, smiling knowingly.

I have a feeling that she already knows but I decide to satiate her curiosity, "Scor" I reply all the while looking at my dad for his reaction.

First he goes white and then he glows and interesting shade of red before his face quickly turns purple as I look at him anxiously.

My mom walks over to him, puts a hand on his shoulder and quietly reminds him to breathe. He starts spluttering phrases like "she's dating?!" and "my little girl has a boyfriend!" and "what if he takes advantage of her?!"

When he said the last one I'm pretty sure my whole entire face became a glowing red. "Dad!" I yell to catch his attention "I can hear you!!"

His face flushes red as well – I don't think he realized I could hear him.

He clears his throat, "Well, erm, I'm going to have to talk with _Malfoy_".

I sigh, I was afraid of this, now he's back to calling Scor _Malfoy_. I just nod and quickly run back to my room so I quill a letter to Scor, warning him.

_Scor- _

_Just told my parents about us. Be prepared to die a slow painful death. Well not really, but my dad wants to talk to you; so prepare yourself._

_Love, Me_

Tina fluttered to my window, miraculously seeming to know what was going on and I quickly handed her the parchment and told her to bring it to the Potters. Hopefully it reaches Scor in time before my dad storms over there. Shoot! I have to stall him!

I run down the stairs to see my dad about to step into the fire place. He's rolling his eyes at my mom,

"…You shouldn't apparate when you're overly emotional! You will just splinch yourself and that would be helpful to no one!" My mum was carrying on when she sees me enter the room, she winks and careful maneuvers towards the door.

"Dad," I start

"Rose, you should've told me before." My dad says angrily.

"Well I knew you would react like this! I was only protecting him!"

"PROTECTING HIM?! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK HE NEEDS PROTECTING?!"

"HE NEEDS PROTECTING FROM YOU! YOU'RE NOT EVEN THINKING ABOUT THIS YOU DIDN'T MIND SCOR YESTERDAY! YOU EVEN SAID HI TO HIM AND GAVE HIM A HANDSHAKE!'

"AND RIGHT ABOUT NOW I WISH I HADN'T! I KNEW THAT BOY WAS A BLOODY GOOD FOR NOTHING _MALFOY_!!"

We're screaming at each other, but now I just stop and stare at him, tears welling in my eyes.

"YOU. HAVE . GONE. TOO. FAR. SCOR IS NOTHING LIKE HOW HIS PARENTS OR HIS GRANDPARENTS WERE! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE HIM! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM! AND YOU KNOW WHAT? TO YOU HE MAY BE A GOOD FOR NOTHING _MALFOY_ BUT TO ME HE ISN'T. TO ME, HE'S MY BEST FRIEND! WEREN'T YOU IN LOVE WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND WHEN YOU WERE MY AGE? PEOPLE WERE PREJUDICED ABOUT MOM BECAUSE SHE WAS MUGGLEBORN BUT YOU DIDN'T CARE! HOW IS THAT ANY DIFFERENT FROM ME?! PEOPLE ARE PREJUDICED ABOUT SCOR BECAUSE OF _HIS_ FAMILY AND I DON'T CARE! SO YOU KNOW WHAT? GO DIE IN A HOLE!!!"

I scream at him and then run out of the room. Tears are falling down my face. I burst into the kitchen and Hugo, Brody, Luka, Alice and Z are staring open mouthed at me.

Z recovers first and grabs my hand, quickly pulling me out of the kitchen and up the stairs. We pass my room but I don't even bother thinking about where we're going. However, when she pulls me into my parents' room, I look at her questioningly. Then I realize there's a fireplace.

She hands me the green floo powder and pushes me into the fireplace.

"I'll cover for you! Go!"

I smile at her gratefully.

"12 Grimmauld Place!" I shout and soon find myself fumbling out of a different fireplace.

This time I was in a different kitchen with a different group of people staring at me, openmouthed. James, Al, Lily, Frank, Owen, Majerle, and Scor are all sitting at the table, staring at me. I'm sure I look like a fright; with my tearstained face, no makeup, still clad in my pajamas.

"Scor," I rasp my voice almost gone from screaming at my father, "We need to talk."

He nods slowly, then gets up from the table, puts his arm around my waist and leads me outside. As soon as we exit the room, I hear everybody whispering, wondering what was going on.

"….so did you get my note?" I ask.

"Yes…"

"It was terrible! He kept calling you Malfoy and telling me that you were going to take advantage of me… what?"

Scor started laughing. "He thought I was going to take advantage of you?!"

I glare at him and hit his arm. "It's not funny!"

"It kind of is, love. But, what else happened?"

"We kind of had a screaming match and then I told him to go die in a hole and then I came right over here."

Scor started laughing again.

"I don't see how you think this is funny!"

"Rose, you told him to go die in a hole!"

I giggle just the slightest bit. "Oh Merlin he is going to be so pissed at me!"

He nods in agreement, "Rose, darling, he's just being protective of you. You're his only daughter and he doesn't want to see you grow up."

I look at him doubtfully.

"Honestly, this has nothing to do with the fact that it's _me_ who you're with. If it was any other boy he would be doing the same thing."

I growl at him.

"But thank you for coming to my rescue, it means the world to me." And he kisses me on the forehead.

I look up at him, "I better get more than just that for sticking up for you!"

He chuckles, and then kisses me full on the mouth. I moan and lean into him and his hands get tighter around my waist, bringing me closer to him while my hands tug on his neck, bringing him closer to me.

He breaks away too soon and motions toward the house, insisting we go inside and wait for the inevitable arrival of my father.

"Will your parents care?" I broach the subject carefully, not wanting to sound prying.

"I have no bloody idea. Frankly, sometimes I think they don't give a shit about me and the next we're having a family moment, so I have no bloody idea what their reaction is going to be."

I sigh and rest my head into his side.

"I have no idea what's gonna happen but we're not gonna break up, are we?"

He looks at me incredulously, stops walking, and turns my body to face him.

"If we ever break up,"

I start protesting, but he covers my mouth with a finger,

"As I was saying, If we ever break up it will be because _we_ want to not because somebody else wants us to." He declares, kissing me on the cheek.

And then we start walking back to the house, again. When we get to the house, my dad still hasn't arrived and everyone else seems to have mysteriously disappeared except for my Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny who are sitting in the living room, reading.

Or rather, they appear to be reading but I saw Aunt Ginny dash back from the window right before we entered the house. In fact, her book is upside down. But, I pretend not to notice.

Aunt Ginny clears her throat, "Um… your parents asked that you sit on the couch and await their arrival." She shifts uncomfortably. "Their words, not mine."

I nod and Scor and I sit on the couch, our hands intertwined, and waiting for the inevitable.

* * *

**A/N: Ha! I told you guys that these would be coming out faster! I am so proud of myself!! :) review if you want, reviews are always appreciated!! **

**~wwccd**


	18. I Hope No One Dies

**Chapter 17---**

_**Mackenzie's**_** POV**

I'm jolted awake (I've realized that I rarely ever just wake up naturally) by screaming. I look around the room, which I soon realize is Rose's and listen to the yelling.

"PROTECTING HIM?! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK HE NEEDS PROTECTING?!"

"HE NEEDS PROTECTING FROM YOU! YOU'RE NOT EVEN THINKING ABOUT THIS YOU DIDN'T MIND SCOR YESTERDAY! YOU EVEN SAID HI TO HIM AND GAVE HIM A HANDSHAKE!'

I jump out of bed, and quickly throw my hair up into a ponytail. Then I rush out of the bedroom, ignoring Alice's strange looks. Quite frankly, it didn't take a genius to figure out what Rose and her father were arguing about.

"AND RIGHT ABOUT NOW I WISH I HADN'T! I KNEW THAT BOY WAS A BLOODY GOOD FOR NOTHING _MALFOY_!!" Ron Weasley was yelling.

"YOU. HAVE . GONE. TOO. FAR. SCOR IS NOTHING LIKE HOW HIS PARENTS OR HIS GRANDPARENTS WERE! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE HIM! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM! AND YOU KNOW WHAT? TO YOU HE MAY BE A GOOD FOR NOTHING _MALFOY_ BUT TO ME HE ISN'T. TO ME, HE'S MY BEST FRIEND! WEREN'T YOU IN LOVE WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND WHEN YOU WERE MY AGE? PEOPLE WERE PREJUDICED ABOUT MOM BECAUSE SHE WAS MUGGLEBORN BUT YOU DIDN'T CARE! HOW IS THAT ANY DIFFERENT FROM ME?! PEOPLE ARE PREJUDICED ABOUT SCOR BECAUSE OF _HIS_ FAMILY AND I DON'T CARE! SO YOU KNOW WHAT? GO DIE IN A HOLE!!!" Rose was in hysterics.

They were in the kitchen and I quickly prayed that no one got their hands on a knife, just in case. I stand just outside the kitchen doorway with Hugo, Brody and Luka and Alice who soon joins us. Rose storms out with tears streaming down her face and I quickly grab her hand and lead her through her house. She follows me without protest until I reach her parents room.

Now, I've only ever been in Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room once or maybe twice but I remember that they do happen to have a fireplace that is connected to the Floo Network in there. I grab the green dust from the bowl on the mantel and shove Rose into the fireplace.

"I'll cover for you! Go!"

She looks at me gratefully and then shouts "12 Grimmauld Place!" before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Merlin knows how I'm going to cover for her. I quickly escape the room but I run into Mrs. Weasley as I'm exiting.

"Oh! Good morning Hermione!" I exclaim courteously.

"Morning, Z." she replies "I assume you heard the argument this morning?"

"It woke me up" I confess "it sounded really intense…I'm guessing Rose finally told Ron about Scor?"

She nods in confirmation. "You don't happen to know where Rose is, do you? I need to discuss something with her."

I cough, "Um… I think she went to the loo."

She raises an eyebrow in my direction. "She went to the loo in my bedroom?"

Whoops. I giggle "Well it sure is surprising isn't it? I think she was upset and not really paying attention where she was going."

She fixes me with an interrogative stare and I squirm uncomfortably. I honestly don't know how Ron and Harry could stand it when they were younger, it's very intimidating.

"She flooed to the Potters to warn Scor." The truth is out before I even realize that I have said anything. I hit my head with my palm and groan. "Please at least give her time to explain and for them to talk it over Hermione!" I quickly try to gain Rose time. "Scor has no idea and you don't want them to get into an even bigger, worse fight than before!"

She considers my words carefully before nodding in agreement. "Yes, I think that would be best. Now, I must find Tina and quickly inform Ginny and Harry what is going on…." She trails off and becomes lost in thought.

While she is distracted I quickly steal off to Rose's room and grab some sandals to throw on my feet. "Hey Alice, cover for me will you? I gotta warn Rose!"

I leave the room before getting a reply, but I'm not worried. I quickly run through the hallway, dodging Hugo, Brody and Luka and manage to get into Ron and Hermione's bedroom again. Luckily, they are not inside so I slip in and rush to the fireplace. I throw down the floo dust and scream "12 Grimmauld Place!"

Now, even though I've been in the Wizardring world for five years, I still haven't gotten used to the floo travel. So I cough and stumble out of the Potter's fireplace, probably looking like a disaster, still clad in my pajamas (sweatpants and a t-shirt) and when I look up I see Harry, Ginny, James, Frank, Owen, Al, Lily and Majerle all staring at me.

"Good morning!" I say brightly.

They all stare at me. And stare. And stare. And stare.

Ok I get it. "Um…Rose came by here, right?" I ask tentatively. Then I'm bombarded by questions and comments.

"What happened!?" that was Al.

"Rose looks like shit!" James commented.

"Did Ron find out?" Ginny questioned urgently

"Was there a lot of yelling?" Lily wonders aloud.

"Should I notify my colleagues that a murder will take place?" Harry asks.

Frank, Owen and Majerle look half uncomfortable and half amused.

"What's your favorite color?" Owen asks obnoxiously and Lily cackles.

I look around wildly, trying to decide which question to answer first.

"Blue I guess is my favorite color? But anyway…how do I say this? Well, I'm sure you all can guess that Rose finally told Ron and Hermione that she and Scor were dating."

There were exclamations of 'finally!' and Harry and Ginny didn't even look surprised, though I'm sure they were already informed of this development.

I continued, "And Ron was shocked, unsurprisingly and Hermione wasn't--- though she probably knew that this was going to happen before any of us even had an inkling of thinking this was a possibility. Anyway, then Ron went all ballistic and he and Rose got in a fight which was really intense. He called Scor a _Malfoy_ and Rose yelled at him, called him a hypocrite, and then told him to go die in a hole."

I'd like to say that all of their faces showed signs of shock, but I don't think that many of them were surprised. Actually I don't think anyone was surprised but Ron and Ron and Rose both have quite awful tempers, so no one was surprised that they got in a fight.

"I just came by to make sure that Rose got here safely and is talking to Scor."

They confirmed the fact that Rose was indeed here and actually talking to Scor. I raise my eyebrows, and then run to the window to look outside. I see Rose and Scor walking outside; Rose looks agitated but Scor, in contrast, seems very calm. In fact, Scor is laughing!

"What's going on?"

I see that Lily, Majerle and even Ginny have made it over to the window as well; we're all looking out at Rose and Scor.

Harry, Al, James Frank and Owen all roll their eyes at us and start talking about Quidditch.

"Awww!" Lily and Majerle coo while Scor and Rose kiss.

I cough and turn away awkwardly, not really wanting to see anymore. I meander over to the boys' conversation.

"…I don't know why Ron still supports the Chudley Canons; they're quite terrible" Harry was saying.

"But they just won against the Romanians!" James was protesting.

See, James' godfather is Ron, and he seems to have inherited his godfather's love for the Chudley Cannons much to his father's and mother's dismay. Me? I'm a Holyhead Harpies girl, which is amazing because Ginny used to play Chaser for them before she started writing for the Daily Prophet.

"James, give it up, you know the Holyhead Harpies are going to the World Cup anyway!" I butt into their conversation.

Ginny whoops her appreciation from the window.

James glares at me.

"But on the bright side, Gryffindor is going to win the Quidditch Cup!" I smile at him.

"Hell yeah we are!" James cries ignoring his mother's protests in the background ('Language!')

"Shit! They're coming!" Ginny screams.

"Mum, language!" James reprimands.

"Oh just you lot get out of the room, Ron and Hermione will be here soon anyway to talk with Scor and Rosie." Ginny shoos all of us out of the room and then closes the door in our faces.

We all look at each other blankly. Suddenly, I get an idea.

"Kenzie, I don't like that look on your face…what do you have in mind?"

"Anybody have an extendable ear?" I smirk. "I have a feeling that this conversation might get interesting…"

James announces that he has an extendable ear and runs up to his room to get it while we all wait. Lily and Majerle couldn't really care less about the whole thing (fighting just wasn't romantic) and so they went back to Lily's room. Frank and Owen went off to play chess because really, this whole thing didn't really concern them.

James came back down and handed the ear to me. I unravel it and slide it under the door. I put it close to my own ear to see if I could hear anything but I couldn't. I hit the ear a few times, but nothing was happening.

"Kenzie, what are you doing?"

"I can't hear anything!"

"That's probably because they aren't saying anything…

I shot him a nasty look. "It's early in the morning Al, you never know—"

"Shh!" James says "listen!"

"We need to talk this over rationally…" Hermione Granger-Weasley was saying.

Suddenly, though, we're aware of a horrible high pitched noise, and then Ginny slightly opened the door, gave us a death glare, and handed us the ear. Whoops.

I sigh and turn to Al and James. James is already off in search of his friends so Al and I begin talking.

Al smirks at me, "Nice outfit, Kenzie"

I look down at my sweatpants and XXL t-shirt and then I stick my tongue out at him.

"So, Al, long time, no see. What have you and Scor been up to?" I ask.

"Kenzie, I just saw you last night so the only thing Scor and I have done since then is sleep."

I chuckle, but roll my eyes at him.

"Well you never know a lot can happen in one night!" I motion my hands towards the door as proof.

Al nods in agreement.

"I got a letter from Ben" I inform Al.

He looks at me and rolls his eyes.

"I know he annoys you but I have a question." I try pleading with him.

He raises his eyebrows at me which I take as an offer to continue.

"Is it normal that he's writing to me practically every day? I mean, my previous boyfriends and I corresponded, but _every day_? I mean, it's so much work! I don't even write to you Scor or Rose every day during the summer!"

"Look, if a guy wants to talk to you, he'll find a way to talk to you. So yes, he obviously enjoys your company."Al advises me.

"All the same it's getting extremely annoying. Wanna hear what he says?"

I don't even give him time to answer. I pull the letter out of my pocket and started reading.

_My lovely Z, _(insert gag here)

_It's been awhile since I saw you last; almost an entire day! It's so weird after seeing you every day to so suddenly not see you! _(insert eye roll here) _I was wondering if you could find time to get away from your friends sometime during the break and spend some time with your nice, trusty boyfriend. _(more gagging and eye rolling) _I miss you so much; it hurt and as strange as it sounds I can't wait to get back to school so that I can see your gorgeous face again. _(still scornfully reading the letter aloud) _Please write me back as soon as you can, I was thinking that we should write to each other every day of the hols. _

_Your loyal boyfriend,_

_Benny_

"Doesn't the 'Benny' part just make it complete? You know what? He's really starting to annoy me!??" I say the first part sarcastically but I can't help complaining about Ben.

Al just laughs at me. He seems a lot happier during the end of the conversation than he did when I first started the topic of Ben.

But before we can make fun of my boyfriend even more, Rose enters the room with Hermione, looking distressed.

"My _father_ would like to speak to Scor alone!" she relates to us fretfully.

I had completely forgotten about the whole Ron/Rose/Scor situation while talking to Al but I immediately rush over to Rose and try to console her. There's a quiet murmuring coming from the room occupied by Ron and Scor, but we can't make anything out.

So Rose and I wait while Al went to go watch the chess game and Hermione went to go talk to Ginny in the kitchen. It seems like eternity before someone opens the door.

We can only hope that everyone makes it out alive.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out, i had dress rehearsal and a recital this week so life's been busy. Hope you enjoy it and remember to review!!**

**Cheers,**

**~wwccd**


	19. We're Not Out of the Woods Yet

**It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas;  
Soon the bells will start,  
And the thing that will make them ring is the carol that you sing  
Right within your heart.  
-Johnny Mathis**

**Chapter 18—**

_**Rose's **_**POV**

Scor and I were sitting next to each other on my Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry's couch when my parents apparated in.

Frankly, I was freaking out. Scor was definitely calmer than I was. Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry were in separate chairs, both reading. Aunt Ginny had finally realized that her book was upside down and turned it around.

"Rose," my mum said sternly, "we have to discuss this rationally."

Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry nodded hello at my parents and the wandered over to the kitchen, still in earshot and within shouting distance in case there was a need for intervention. Aurors were always prepared, even in their own homes with their own families.

I squeezed Scor's hand before starting the speech I had planned

"Mum, Dad, Scor and I are dating. Neither of you have ever had a problem with us being friends and frankly, I don't think that anyone is really surprised we are dating, except for maybe Dad. While I value your opinions on my relationship with Scor, I really don't think it fair to assume things without ever actually asking either of us, _Dad_, and also, I'm not asking your permission. I'm dating Scor. Nothing is going to change that. However, I would like your approval."

My dad cleared his throat "Rosie, I'm…I'm really sorry about all the things I said. I was just shocked and um, well I have a temper."

"I'm sorry too; daddy, I blame this temper thing on you. I just don't think I inherited the whole 'let's talk over this thing rationally' thing from mom" I smile.

My dad smiles at me and opens up his arms and I jump up and hug him. He squeezes me tightly before he hands me off to my mum who hugs me too.

"But, I would like to speak to Scorpius." He says with a tone of finality.

"Ok"

"_Alone"_.

I huff and roll my eyes as my mom grabs my hand and pulls me out of the room. Al and Z try to console me, but I'm basically focusing all my attention on waiting for Scor and my Dad to come out of the room. What were the chances that they both come out battered and bloody?

But, soon enough both Dad and Scor leave the room, seemingly with all body parts and egos intact. Scor smiled at me reassuringly and winked as my dad ventured over to Uncle Harry, talking about the Chudley Cannons next game.

"So?" I asked.

"So?"

"Well what did he say?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about Rose," Scor replied smiling at me.

Well, then. I huffed, rolled my eyes and walked over to where Z and Al were still talking about Ben.

"Z, let's go home. I want to shower and change and stuff."

"Sure! Bye Al! Bye Scor!" Z says brightly before heading in the direction of the fire place.

I quickly followed her after giving Scor a quick goodbye hug.

When we had finally returned home, showered, changed and were ready for the day we went down to the kitchen for some food and a little girl time.

"Z, what do you think my dad said to Scor?" I asked

"He didn't tell you?" She seemed a little surprised at this but not really worried.

"No…and he didn't break up with me on spot either so I think it's all good…right?"

Z laughs " I'm sure that your dad just did the whole basic 'if you ever hurt my daughter…' speech that we all know and love and can recite by heart." She said reassuringly.

I sighed. "You don't think it will scare him away?"

" I think that if Scor was going to get scared away he would have by now. I mean he's spent so much time with your family he knew everything that was going to happen. Or at least, understood somewhat what was going to happen when he finally got his act together and asked you to Hogsmead."

"So you're saying he already knew my dad was crazy?"

"Sweetie, _everybody_ knows your dad is crazy, it's right there in the history books." Z winks. "I think Scor will be fine. He's a big boy. If a guy can get passed your family, he definitely likes you and not much will get in the way of him being with you."

"Well there's also the problem of my really annoying best friend…"

Z laughs and smacks me in the arm "Don't insult the best friend! You might need her one of these days!"

"You mean like today?"

"Nah, you'd have been fine without me. But that is to say, next time wake up before you decide to get into a screaming match with your dad, wake me up first. I'd rather watch it than be woken up to it."

I laugh and promise her (if I ever actually thought it through of course) that I would inform her ahead of time. And we were having a fantastic time until….

"Shit!" I exclaimed.

"Rose? What's wrong?"

I forgot to get Scor a Christmas present!"

* * *

**The End.**

**Haha no just kidding.**

* * *

"Ask your mom if we can go to Diagon Alley"

Luckily my mom agreed and Z and I set off to Diagon Alley to get a present for Scor.

"Well what did you get him?

I'm not going to tell you! you'd just love my present so much that you'd want to take it for yourself and then _I'd _have no idea what to get him and-"

"Ok, fine, I'll think of something by myself."

I'll help you think of something! You just can't take my present! Now, what do you think Scor wants for Christmas?

Shit. Shouldn't I have some kind of clue as to what he wants for Christmas? Shouldn't I have asked him or something? All those opportunities to figure it out and I decided to snog him instead! Bugger.

You didn't even ask him, did you?

"Ha ….um…the thought hadn't even crossed my mind until today.

Of course, ok so has he mentioned anything to you about needing something or wanting something?

Besides my body? Hah no just kidding, Scor wasn't very verbal…he was more of the physical type…Focus Rose!

"He might have said something about wanting to go to a Quidditch game…"

"Great! Ok, let's go talk to your Aunt Gin! I'm sure she has the connections to get you some tickets!"

And we were off, and I was definitely glad that I had figured out Scor's gift…now I just had to get everybody else's. Oh, before tomorrow. Crap. I knew I shouldn't have procrastinated!

* * *

**A/N: Annnddd I'm back! :) tell me what you think! And i apologize for the lateness of this chater...I had an incurable case of writer's block! Which is of course, a lame excuse. ...BUT I'M BACK! :D and yes, the song at the beginnig is lame. I'll work on it.**


	20. And the new year bringsAmy?

** My dear acquaintance it's so good to know you**

**the strength of your had that is loving and giving**

**and happy new year with love overflowing**

**with joy in our hearts for the blessed new year**

**-Regina Spektor, My Dear Acquaintance**

**Chapt er 19—**

_**Mackenzie's**_** POV**

It's surprising how quickly holidays go while the regular school year seems to drag on. Before I know it, I'm leaving the comfort of the Weasley and Potter houses and on my way back to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express.

I got a surprisingly good haul this year. (Not that presents were the only thing I care about, the food was good too. Haha- joking). From Rose I got some lovely cosmetics and some perfume, from Scor I got a pretty charm bracelet, and from Al I got a new red notebook and a quill charm for my charm bracelet! Assorted gifts of Honeydukes chocolate and things from WWW were also given to me by various other Weasley/Potter/Lupin family members. Oh, and Ben gave me my favorite chocolate caramels from Honeydukes. So, all in all, it was a fairly nice Christmas.

Except for the fact that I decided I'm going to break up with Ben. But, that was going to happen some time or another anyway.

The compartment door opens, and Al comes in looking flushed.

"What's up Al?" I ask.

Rose is immersed in some book or another, too immersed to care about the rest of the world, and Scor is down the train talking to Anthony Zabini about something or other (ok, so I wasn't paying attention).

"Do you know Amy Buchanan?" He asks.

"Um…yeah I think so, cute redhead a year behind us in Ravenclaw?"

"That's her." He replies.

"Yeah, she seems pretty nice. Why?"

"Oh well I just met her on the train. That's all."

"Oh come on! She must have made some kind of impression if you're telling me about her!"

"It's weird. I mean, she's only a year younger, and she's probably been at Hogwarts for a good 5 years, and I've never met her before." He says.

"Well, do you want to get to know her more?"

"I think so," he says and sighs. "Anyway, up for a game of exploding snap?"

I comply but fight the urge the entire time to slap him across the face. Seriously? I wonder if the fates are just against us. As soon as I'm about to break up with my boyfriend Al has to go meet a fantastic girl whom he wants to get to know better!

When we finally reach Hogwarts, I decide to go and take a nap (and hopefully find some peace and quiet) before I go find Ben. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with the Weasley/Potter/Lupins, but spending an extended amount of time with them is emotionally taxing and tiring.

After a quick nap, I started walking around Hogwarts at random, enjoying the sound of emptiness in one of the 3rd floor corridors. When, suddenly I heard laughter. Familiar laughter.

"…you did not!" a female voice screeched. "I can't believe you did that to a professor!"

"Well to be fair, he insulted me first and it's not like Professor Cassella knows that it was me" the familiar voice chuckled.

I peered around the corner to see Al and Amy walking together, casually stealing glances at each other when they didn't think the other was looking.

"Hey Al, Amy!" I said.

"Oh, hey Kenzie"

I smiled quickly at Al and Amy as she greeted me in the same fashion.

"I was just looking for Ben, you haven't happened to see him, have you?"

"Ben Armstrong?" the pretty red-head quietly says.

"Yes, he's my…boyfriend" I smile again at her. Damn her! She's just so nice!

She giggles, "I know! I mean, not that I stalk you or anything, but well, oh gosh I'm embarrassing myself. I'll just stop talking now!" she blushes.

I laugh, not unkindly, at her. "Don't worry about it, this Hogwarts, things tend to get around!"

"Haha right…what I really wanted to say is that I think you sing amazingly and I can't believe you write all your own songs!" she blushes again.

I'm surprised. The girl is quite nice and if I hadn't been totally jealous of her position with Al, I probably would be interesting in being friends with her.

"Oh! Well thank you! It's just a little hobby of mine, really." I smile at her, deciding to like her anyway. It wasn't like she could stop Al's affections.

"Most of the songs you write are autobiographical, right?"

"Well, yes they tend to be about things that I have experienced because I find it easier to put words to my own emotions."

"Have you ever considered writing a song for a friend? Like, and I swear I'm not stalking you!, but Rose seems to be a good friend of yours. Maybe you could write a song about her experiences?"

I stare in shock at the girl in front of me. I quickly glance her up and down and see a fairly ordinary girl, dressed in school robes with a Ravenclaw tie, with beautiful red hair and hazel eyes. Who knew this girl could give me such an inspiration?

"Well I've thought about it a little…but it's definitely something I'd be interested in doing! Oh! And I'm sure some great songs, or at least poems, could be written if I contacted Harry or any other of the war participants…just to get their own personal story…not the gore…"

And in my mind's eye I saw a million different scenarios and songs that could come from them until a hand waved past my face, grabbing my attention.

"Kenzie?" Al questions, wondering if I'm still in the land of the living.

"Right! Sorry, I must have drifted off there! Amy that's a brill idea! Well I will talk to you guys later…I have to find Ben and you distracted me! Shame on you!"

Amy smiles and waves goodbye but as soon as I'm on my way, I turn back.

"Amy?"

She turns around, surprised.

"Yes?"

"Would you be interested in being in one of my songs? I think it would be fab if the person who put the idea in my head could get a song!" I offer kindly.

Al smiles at me "I think that would be a great idea!" he contributes to my cause.

"Oh…I don't know…I mean I'm not that interesting…" she says uncertainly.

"Of course you are! I mean everybody has a story just waiting to be sung…I just have to find it first!" I wink at her. "Anyway, you don't get a choice in the matter anymore. Be frightened. I will find you and get a song out of you!" I proclaim as I quickly depart from the couple.

I decide before I find Ben to make a quick trip the Owlery. I pen a few letters and give them to Thaddeus before I get interrupted by a person entering the Owlery.

"Z!" Ben exclaims.

"Ben! Hi! I've been looking all over for you!" I smile at him, because if Al can talk to Amy then surely I can talk to my own boyfriend! After all, Ben isn't that bad, just a little clingy at times. And that can easily be fixed.

"It seems like I haven't seen you in forever!"

I giggle. "That's because you haven't seen me in two weeks! And I think I know how we can get reacquainted."

He quirks and eyebrow at me, "Really?" he says then smirks.

I step closer to him and wrap my arms around his neck. "Yep…"

"… 20 questions! I'll go first! How was your brea-" but I'm cut off by his lips.

I smile into the kiss and pull away for a second. "Or we could snog, that's always an idea…in fact I think I like that idea better." I say and capture his lips with mine once again.

Oh, this is going to be a good new year!

* * *

**A/N: Don't kill me! I actually had Amy planned all along, but I had no idea she'd be introduced in this chapter! It just came out that way! Anyway, I'm curious, has anybody else predicted this? And I assure, more surprises along the way! (I hope to keep the majority people surprised, but I'm certian a few of you will prove to be excellent guessers) Let me know what you think! **

**~wwccd**


	21. The Idea of Guam

**May everlasting peace reign o'er us  
May heaven's blessing to us come  
Against all perils, do not forsake us  
God protect our isle of Guam.  
Against all perils, do not forsake us  
God protect our isle of Guam.  
-National Anthem of Guam**

**Chapter 20—**

_**Rose's**_** POV**

Scor and I had just finished prefect duty and I was returning to my dormitory after a quick kiss (ok, 10 minute snog session) when I was intercepted by Sasha; which was strange enough in itself, until I figured out what she wanted to talk to me about.

"Is Mackenzie still going out with Benjamin Armstrong?" She asks frantically.

"And why would that be any of your business?" I retort coldly, still not forgetting the incident at the Halloween ball, the incident before Hogsmead…ok not forgetting the fact that Sasha is just a bitch in general.

"It's not! Well, it is! I mean—he's just so wrong for her!"

And now I have passed the point beyond utter confusion.

"What?" is the brilliant response my brain comes up with.

"Well, I wouldn't expect _you_ to understand, after all, your boyfriend and lovely life is absolutely-fucking-perfect!" she screeches and then rushes off.

I have no idea how to even respond to that, so I decide to continue on to my dormitory. When I get there, I see Z splayed out on her bed and the rest of the dorm mates seemed to have vanished.

"Sasha is interested in your love life again." I greet her.

She raises her eyebrows at me. "So is Al's new friend Amy…strange why does Sasha care about my love life?"

"Why does Amy care?"

"Well she just knows me and the fact that I'm dating Ben Armstrong, Slytherin extraordinaire and fabulous snogger. Ok, so she didn't add the last part, I did, but whatever."

"And by the way, Sasha is still calling you _Mackenzie_ and apparently you're dating _Benjamin_ that girl is strange. But anyway, you know I don't think I've ever officially met Amy Buchanan."

"Sasha is just a stuck up bitch who refuses to call people by their nicknames. But I'll be sure to introduce Amy. She's cute and actually quite nice. She even talked me out of hating her on principle!"

"You told her that you hated her on principle?" I mean I know Z can be forward…but that's pushing it a little bit.

"No! Of course not! She talked me out of it without being told! If she wasn't so cute I would expect she would be sorted into Slytherin!"

"You're dating a Slytherin," I comment as I start getting into my comfy pajamas.

"Which is proof! Ben is so cunning he somehow convinced me to snog him in the Owlery! It was quite awkward when little Johnny Jameson, you know the cute little second year, walked in on us!"

"And this had nothing to do with the fact that you actually think snogging Ben is nice?"

"None whatsoever, I blame it all on his Slytherin cunningness!"

"Whatever, just don't go into detail about it again." I shuddered remembering the in depth detail Z had given me of her and Ben's snogging session one time.

"Hey! That was only in retaliation for your little stunt that you pulled when you went into 'in depth detail' about you and Scor's snog session!" she scrunches up her nose "I didn't want to hear about my best friends snogging. I mean I love you both and I'm happy that you are together, but some things need to be kept private!"

"Fine, truce. Whatever." I say. "I still think it's weird that Sasha is distressed over the state of your love life."

I hop on her bed and lie down next to her.

"What are you working on, anyway? School's only been in session for a couple weeks and there isn't much homework. I mean, I'm not even doing anything yet!"

"Nothing" she mutters.

I glance at the pieces of parchment on the bed. "Is that _my mum's_ handwriting?"

"Pshh, no! Why would I be corresponding with your mum?"

"I don't know, I just thought…whatever. I'm going to bed it's after midnight you should too."

"Alright _mum_"

"Hush up, Z"

"Yes _mum_!"

"Merlin, Z just back off!"

"Whoa there, it was a joke."

I spin and glare at her, "Well I don't hear anyone laughing."

"Ok, ok I'm sorry, I won't call you _mum,_ it obviously wasn't a very funny joke, and I also happen to love you; just throwing that out there.

"Love you too, Z. Night."

"You know I wasn't comparing you to your mum right? I was just saying that you were acting like a mum in general. I didn't mean to get you upset."

I sigh, "I know, Z, sorry, it's just that I feel like I'm always being compared to her."

"Except for the whole having a romance with a Malfoy thing."

I laugh, "Except for that."

"Night Ro."

"Night Z."

Except for suddenly I couldn't sleep. I mean, at least once every day of my life someone had compared me to my mum. It was always 'Oh she has Hermione's brains alright!' 'Someone's going to give their mum a run for her money with brains like yours!' 'And you've fallen for your best friend, just like you mum! How sweet!' It was absolutely sickening.

I love my mum, truly I do, but she has left enormous, impossible footsteps for me to follow in. It also seems like every single trait that I have is not my own, but rather from some family member or other. My brains from my mother, my fear of spiders for my father, my love of Muggle studies from my grandfather, and sometimes, if I pursed my lips just so, I could look 'uncannily' like my Nan. The brown eyes were so obviously like my Aunt Ginny's and the way I could sometimes recite the rules word for word made me like my rule-abiding-almost-to-the-point-of-being-obnoxious Uncle Percy.

I tossed and turned in bed, trying to get these thoughts out of my head. I really do love my family, but sometimes I wish I could get away, maybe to some place where everyone doesn't know every little thing about my family and their history. Now that I think about it, I've heard that Guam is nice this time of year.

Of course, in order to get to Guam I would have to leave next Hogsmead trip. I've read _Hogwarts, a Revised History_ enough to know that I cannot apparate off the Hogwarts grounds. And of course, I would love to take Scor with me…

Well that settles it. I definitely can't go to Guam. I mean, sure I could ruin my own future, but I can't ruin Scor's future just because I don't want to be compared to my mother. And chances are my dad and Uncle Harry would find me anyway with their super sleuthing Auror skills.

But now the idea just won't leave me ahead. _Get away_- from it all, from everything; the pressure, the comparing, the annoying people.

I drift off to sleep and wonder if maybe just maybe I could convince Z to help me. I could go this summer. But in reality, I know that I probably won't go anywhere. Hogwarts and Britain are my homes. However, the idea was still appealing and I decided to keep it in the back of my mind.

* * *

**A/N: whatcha think? **

**~wwccd**


	22. Cupcakes Make the World Go Round

**VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT AT THE END OF THE CHATER! STAY TUNED...**

* * *

There's one minute of your day  
There's one minute of your day  
I will leave this man just to occupy one minute of your day  
Just to occupy one minute of your day

-Ingrid Michaelson

**Chapter 21- **

_**Mackenzie's**_** POV**

"My life sucks," I say as I collapse into an armchair in the Gryffindor common room by the fire.

Rose looks at me sympathetically from Scor's lap. I realize that I probably just interrupted their alone time but at this point I don't really care.

"And why do you feel that way?" Rose asks as she goes into older sister/shrink mode.

"Well: 1.I have a head ache and cramps at the same time 2. I got a total of 2 hours of sleep last night 3. I didn't study for that pop quiz in Transfiguration and surely failed it 4. I forgot my gloves for Herbology and had to run back to get them, so I was late and got a detention, 5. I copied the wrong problems in Arithmancy, 6. I couldn't find my tights this morning because Olivia 'borrowed' them and never put them back 's nearing Valentine's day and I have no idea what to get Ben, 8. This morning I accidentally threw out my toothbrush and 9. I have this large zit right in between my eyes like a frickin bull's eye!"

Scor squirms at the mention of my 'womanly problems' and Rose pats his head and starts playing with his hair absently. Suddenly, their cuteness made me want to gag.

"Come on, then, Z, I have some chocolate." Rose says.

She kisses Scor on the cheek and I ruffle his hair on the way out.

"You should probably find a better hiding place for your clothes than your trunk," Rose advises.

"But that involves so much work! And eventually Olivia will find it and then I'll have to find _another_ hiding place!"

"Maybe just disillusion them then?"

"If I must, I must."

"Ok, so here's your chocolate, here's your notebook, here's a cramp potion, and I'll tell Ben that you're not feeling well."

"I love you, Ro. I don't know what I would do without you!"

Rose goes back down, probably to snog Scor or something and I pull out my notebook and the letters inside the notebook.

Ok, so I am corresponding with Rose's mom…and aunt….and uncle…and dad…and yes, I lied to her about it. But I thought it might be a little awkward that I was writing to her mom more often than she was.

I quickly scanned over the letter Hermione Weasley had sent me.

_Hello Z,_

_I do hope that you are having a fantastic semester so far-make sure to study hard! I was surprised to get your letter, but I cannot say that I didn't expect it at some point. My experience of Hogwarts is probably drastically different than yours, though I am certain you know this already (otherwise you would not be corresponding with me in the first place!) what in particular would you like to know about? Every year at Hogwarts was just filled with excitement and I don't want to bore you with details that you are not interested in. I wish I could tell you that all of this 'excitement' was of the happy sort, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I am also sure if you were to write Harry or Ginny they would be happy to write you as well- to help you with your project. _

_Tell Rose that I love her! Send hugs and kisses to the rest of the clan!_

_Hermione Weasley_

No, I did not lie to Hermione Weasley. She was the one to first name my writing of songs based on different experiences from different points of view as a 'project'.

I sigh as I consider how quickly she would get back to me after my latest reply but it would probably take a few days- Hermione Weasley was a very busy woman.

Unfortunately, I seem to have eaten all of Rose's stash of Honeydukes chocolates. I sigh, throw a robe on top of my pajamas, slip my slippers on, grab my notebook and quill and quickly leave the dormitories. I wave to Rose and Scor on the way out of the common room.

I quickly head towards the kitchen, hoping to get some nice warm hot chocolate. Deeply absorbed in my thoughts, I didn't even notice the pair of people sneaking up behind me.

Suddenly, I hear my name being called.

"Kenzie!"

I turn around and see Al and Amy, heading in the direction of the library.

"Hey Al, Amy." I acknowledge them.

"We're just going to the library, you want to come with?" Al asks.

I discreetly glance at Amy and quickly see her disappointment written all over her face- To go or not to go?

"That sounds lovely; however I am in desperate need of hot chocolate so I was on my way to the kitchens."

"Do you mind if we come with? I could definitely go for some hot chocolate!" Al asks.

"Oh, Albus, I really should study for my OWLs- you go have fun with Z" Amy chimes in.

"Oh um-"

"No, seriously hang out with Z; I won't be much fun to be with anyway" Amy smiles and leaves.

I look at Al, who is watching Amy leave.

"Come on then, lover boy, I haven't talked with you in forever."

He looks me up and down quickly. "You look like shit."

I roll my eyes at him. "Oh thanks Al, you really know how to make a girl feel special! Or, should I call you Albus now?" I quirk an eyebrow.

"No! I've tried to convince Ames to just call me Al like everyone else does but she it's like she's determined not to be like everyone else!"

"Ames?" I question.

Al coughs and avoids my questioning as he tickles the pear.

"Miss Mackenzie! Master Albus!" the house elves quickly surround us and we place our order for hot chocolate-plain for Al and with extra marshmallows and whip cream for me.

"I see you're using the red notebook I gave you." Al smiles at me.

"Yes! Thank you so much! It's already starting to fill up!" I hold up my notebook as if it's the proof.

Suddenly we hear the portrait open again and another figure emerges.

"Z! Rose told me I might find you in here!"

"Ben!" I smile at him as he kisses me on the cheek.

"Al," Ben acknowledges Al and Al nods back.

"Is there a reason you were looking for me?" I ask my boyfriend.

"Yes, actually, here I know that you're having a bad week." He says as he hands me a mysterious object.

"A cupcake? Really? For me?" I exclaim.

Ben laughs at me.

"I know that you love red velvet cupcakes so I got one for you."

I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I am starting to tear up as I gingerly take the cupcake from his hands and take a bite. I moan at the deliciousness of the tasty treat. I swallow quickly and hug my boyfriend.

"Oh my goodness! Thank you thank you thank you! You are the most amazing person on the planet!"

I smile up at him and gaze into his hazel eyes before taking another bite of my cupcake as Ben laughs at me.

"I'll take that as you like the cupcake?"

"I am officially in love with this cupcake!"

"Well I'm glad—could I try it?"

I smirk at Ben—"Sure! Here let me just…" I take a bit in my mouth and then turn around to face Ben. He looks surprised but I quickly pull his face close to mine and kiss him-deciding to transfer the cupcake that way- and force my tongue in his mouth.

Then I pull back quickly.

Ben laughs at me "Well that wasn't quite what I was expecting but it was pleasant enough"

"Pleasant enough? That's probably the best goddamn cupcake kiss you've ever had in your life!"

Ben puts his arm around my waist and pulls me closer "hmm... I'm not sure…why don't we try it one more time…"

Al coughs suddenly and I realize that I had totally forgotten he was there.

"Erm- I'm going to go help Ames study for the OWLS…" he says as he walks quickly towards the exit again.

"Oh! Al! I'm sorry we went all couply on you! We'll talk later, ok? Tell Ames I said hi!"

"Sure." He says easily.

"Wait! One more thing"

He turns around and looks at me.

"Love you!"

He laughs at me, then says "Love you too, Z" and then leaves.

I glance up at Ben again.

"Now…how about we try that cupcake kiss one more time? I think we might be able to master it by the end of the night!"

* * *

**A/N: what'cha think? Also I have a very important announcement! An avid reader- Chocolate Skittles- has created a BLOG for this story. This blog basically consists of pictures of models that she thinks look similar to the characters based on the way I have descirbed them! Feel free to check it out! You can access it by going to her profile and clicking on the link...I will also put it on my profile! Thank you so so so much to all my reviewers! Reviews are always welcome so please let me know what you think! :)**

**.****Love you all!**

**~wwccd**


	23. And then he said

_I give her all my love_

_That's all I do_

_And if you saw my love_

_You'd love her too_

_I love her_

_-And I love Her- The Beatles_

**Chapter 22**

_**Rose's **_**POV**

Why do all of our professors assign homework at the same time? I mean, seriously, I have 5 essays this weekend! All due on Monday! And they're all supposed to be longer than 4 feet! I truly believe the professors must hate us. This work is truly impossible. And this is coming from the daughter of Hermione Granger.

I'm pouring over about fifty books at my table at the library (yes, I have my own table—I'm the daughter of Hermione Granger!) when suddenly everything goes black. Well, my eyes are being covered by a pair of hands so it's not totally black…I can still see some light.

"Al?" I ask but I don't think it's Al who's preventing me from studying, the hands aren't calloused enough.

No answer.

"Z?" I ask again, but I know it's not Z she's way too impatient and would have taken her hands away already. Plus, her hands always smell like coconut and these were not coconut-smelling hands.

There's still no answer from my mysterious captor.

"Oh!" I start giggling "Liam! I should have known it was you!"

The hands stay where they are but his mouth grazes my ear and he whispers "That's not even funny, Rose" and then places a quick peck on my cheek, and removes his hands.

I beam at him, "Couldn't resist, Scor".

He rolls his eyes at me and I notice he's still standing.

"Sit down."

"Can't, sorry, I have to meet Lila-Anne so we can study."

I frown.

"Oh, well ok then."

"What? Can't a guy quickly talk to his girlfriend, just because he misses her?"

"Not unless he comes bearing presents and kisses!"

He looks at me, raises one eyebrow thoughtfully and sits down the seat next to mine.

He is just so damn attractive. Blonde hair that is long enough to reach the top of his eyebrows but not long enough to go into his beautiful grey eyes—the same grey eyes that are piercing me right now. Merlin, I just want to run my fingers through his hair, feel his hard abs, snog him senseless right here, right now.

It doesn't help that he's decided to put his hand on my thigh—the same hand that is slowly moving up to…I blush- the deep-red oh-my-merlin-everyone-in-this-freaking-library-knows-that-my-boyfriend-is-feeling-me-up-right-now blush.

"Scor!" I admonish. "We're in the library!."

He smirks at me and whispers in my ear

"We're sneaking into Hogsmead tonight; I'll pick you up at the bottom of the Girls' Dormitories at 7. _Sharp_." He looks at me pointedly.

I'd been late for our last two dates.

"But Scor! I have 5 essays to do, and only 3 of them barely started-mmpfh".

And then we were snogging. Oh my were we snogging and his lips felt so good against mine and then-

"I really have to met Lila Anne, I'm already 10 minutes late and she's going to kill me. For a third year she's very determined-almost as determined as you were." And then he winks at me and walks away.

Stupid Bastard. Making me forgo my studying plans because he thinks he's really important.

He is that important.

* * *

So that's why I'm descending the stairs now and I'm perfectly happy to see my godly hunk of a boyfriend waiting for me at the bottom.

"Come on, Al lent me the Invisibility Cloak"

He takes my hand and we throw the invisibility cloak over ourselves. But, as soon as we reach a deserted corridor, Scor grabs me by the waist, spins me around and backs me into a wall.

Just as our snogging starts heating up, I hear footsteps.

I quickly pull away from Scor and motion to him to be quiet so I can listen.

Now, we hear the whistling.

_Uncle Neville!_

But there's no time to me so we huddle under the Invisibility Cloak and press ourselves against the wall, hoping for Professor Longbottom to pass us.

He's humming as he walks by, but (luckily) he doesn't see us. Scor starts to move but I motion for him to stay quiet and not move, just until Professor Longbottom's footsteps faded.

"Come on," I whisper quickly "let's get out of here before another teacher comes along patrolling!"

We run quietly (well as quietly as one can when nearly sprinting) and soon we're on our way to Hogsmead.

"So, where are we going" I ask.

"Hogsmead…"

"Well, I know that! I mean where in Hogsmead are we going?"

"I was thinking Madame Puddifoots…."

"Haha. Hahahaha. No."

He smirks at me and wraps an arm around my waist.

"Well…I actually happen to have some Butterbeer with me…"

"I never say know to Butterbeer!

"And this blanket…"

I look up and him questioningly.

"Shrieking Shack?"

"Ok"

We spent the rest of the night out there, snogging and talking and everything in between.

Then, suddenly, the whole night changes.

"Rose?"

"Mhmm" I sigh, my head lying on his chest.

"I love you."

* * *

**A/N: Ok, I officially suck. The chapter is late and it's not even that great! I just really wasn't feeling this chapter and it was really hard for me to write. Also, I think that this story is winding down. I just think that I've written enough about these characters at this stage in their life. BUT I already have plans for a sequel. Tell me what you think! (but I will probably post it anways, regardless)**

**~wwccd**


	24. Fred In His Bunny Costume Shaped Clouds

You're so sweet to me

In a world that's not always fair

We could watch it from the clouds  
We can't stop it anyhow

-Jack Johnson- From the Clouds

**Chapter**** 23—**

_**Mackenzie's **_**POV**

"It's April" I sing song to Rose.

She glances at me, "I know, Z, you've told me that the past two days."

I sigh, "So…what do you want for your birthday?"

"Shouldn't you have already bought my birthday present?"

"Who says I haven't?"

"You did, just now when asking me what I wanted."

"What if I was asking for someone?

She eyes me critically.

"Just tell them I enjoy Honeydukes."

I beam at her. "Fantastic!"

"Mhmm"

"So…."

"Yes, Z?" she snaps, "If you haven't realized I'm actually trying to finish some homework so I can go hang out with Scor!"

"Sorry, just one last question!"

…

"What did you get me for _my _birthday?"

"Go find Ben."

"Hmmph."

Rose and I were born three days apart, so I'm technically 3 days older than her and therefore I should be more responsible than her, based on the age theory. Yet, I'm the one going off to find my boyfriend before even starting my homework and she's doing her homework before going to find her boyfriend (things had been a lot more serious since they said I love you to each other about two months ago—yes she's keeping track).

I'm glancing at the portraits as I walk down the hallway, not really paying attention to where I'm going.

Until, of course, I run into someone.

"Watch where you're— oh, hey Kenzie."

"Hi Al!"

"Where are you going?"

"The kitchens, want to come with?"

"Sure"

"So…Al…"

"Yes?"

"What did you get me for my birthday?"

He rolls his bright green eyes at me.

"A pygmy puff"

"Really?"

"No"

I frown. "I already had a plan! I was going to name if Alfred!"

"What if it was a girl?"

"Alfretta!"

He chuckles and shoots me another look. "You'll find out tomorrow anyway."

"But I hate surprises! And I'm really good at acting surprised! You can just tell me now and no one will know the difference!"

He reached out to tickle the pear.

We quickly ordered two sandwiches.

"You want to take it to go and eat it picnic style out by the Black Lake?"

"Sure!"

We carried our basket outside into the rare, sunny day in April.

"So it's not a pygmy puff?"

"Merlin, Kenzie, give it a rest!"

"Fine fine" I sigh. "So how's Amy?"

"Ames is great. She's really studying for her OWLS."

"Ew. I'm glad those are over. Rose is freaking out too. She about snapped my head off earlier."

"You asked her about your present didn't you?"

I smile. "I might have…"

He rolls his eyes at me and lies down on the ground. I follow in suit.

"That one looks like Fred in his bunny costume." I point to a cloud.

"That one looks like your birthday present."

"Which one?"

Al laughs at me again, "You'll never know."

I hit him on the arm gently, "Now that is not fair!"

"Hasn't anyone ever told you, life isn't fair?"

"Yes, I don't believe them. Karma's a bitch."

He looks right at me again, piercing my eyes with his. He leans closer to me and my breath catches, but his mouth moves past mine and he whispers in my ear

"You really want to know your present?"

"Yes" I whisper back.

"Well it's going to cost you."

I eye him critically for a moment, trying to decide just what it would cost me.

"What would it cost me?"

"Z!" a sudden voice yelled from a few meters away.

I whip my head around in the direction of the voice and I hear Al groan softly.

"Hi Ben" I smile at my boyfriend. Yes, he's still my boyfriend I haven't broken up with him yet. I mean it was Valentine's Day, and then it was his birthday and I just didn't have the heart…

He smiles widely at me. "I was wondering if you were free? We could take a walk?" he asks hopefully.

I glance at Al. He shrugs at me though I know he would be annoyed if I just up and left him in the middle of our picnic lunchy thing- even if it was for my boyfriend. Well he doesn't even like my boyfriend.

Actually I think that Al is the only one of us that is officially single. He swears up and down that he and Amy are just friends—but I cannot deny that there is definitely a trend among those Potter boys…they fall for redheads. And of course, Amy Buchanan is probably the one of the only redheads at Hogwarts that is _not_ related to the Potters.

"Sorry, Ben, Al and I were just reviewing for our charms exam."

Ben looks hurt, but I can't help but look at Al, who looks elated.

"Really? Oh um, okay, then I'll see you later?"

"Sure, Ben"

"And save some time for me in your busy schedule tomorrow, okay? I have a present to give you."

"A present?"

Ben laughs at me too. "Well it is the tradition to give the birthday person a present on their birthday…"

"You don't have to remind me!"

Ben waves and walks away to find some of his friends.

"So, Al now that you have me all to yourself…what do you want to do?

And that's how Al and I spent the rest of the day laughing and the shapes of the different clouds and just hanging out in general. Without my knowledge Al had even snuck a chocolate cake out for us. But he still wouldn't tell me what my birthday present was.

* * *

**A/N: Watcha think? Sorry for the delay...busy day. I already have the beginning of the sequel written and I'm so excited! Just a few chapters left!**

**~wwccd**


	25. What Summer Will Bring

**A/N: IMPORTANT!: THE FOLLOWING IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF THESE BONDS OF FRIENSHIP_ FOR EVER!_ IT IS GREATY APPRECIATED THAT EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO READS THIS REVIEWS THIS WILL BE YOUR LAST CHANCE TO TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! EVER! THAT MEANS YOU ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO STORY ALERTED/FAVORITED WITHOUT EVER REVIEWING!**

Truly great friends are hard to find

Difficult to leave

And impossible to forget

-Randolf G

**Chapter 24—**

_**Rose's **_**POV**

Well they're done. There's nothing to do now but wait.

Right now the world seems to have stopped. You know those times right before a big change will occur when everything just seems still? This is one of those times. Exams are over and summer is about to begin. We go home tomorrow but I've already packed so I have a few hours lapse time to spend with my friends.

This year, Scor will only be at his home for a month- a time in which we can pop in and see him at any time. I must confess that will definitely be one of the highlights of the summer…endless amounts of time to spend with Scor.

However, this year, Z will not be staying with us at all. She'll come before the week before school starts to get her things from Diagon Alley and hang out with us for a while but for practically the whole summer she'll be back home.

Which leads me to a point that I've been wondering ever since I met Z and never had the chance to ask her,

"Z?"

"Mhmm?"

"If you're American…why are you at Hogwarts?"

"You're just figuring this out now?"

"Well I mean I knew that it was strange but I never got the chance to ask you…"

"I was born in London."

"Oh."

"Yeah, the magic quill that writes down all the witches and wizards born in Britain wrote me down too because I was born in Britain even though most of my childhood I lived in America. I was actually invited to the American wizard and witch school too, but I always loved England even as a child, so I chose Hogwarts."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Well, that clears that up.

"Ok, I'm going to go talk to Scor."

"AKA: even though I love you and won't see you at all this summer I'd rather spend time with my boyfriend whom I love because he snogs me senseless and that is a much better occupier of my time."

"Yeah, pretty much. Go play parent with Al."

Al had given Z a pygmy puff for her birthday. He apparently actually told her that she was getting one the day before her birthday, but then told her he was just kidding. His name was Alfred and he was yellow. And I must say, she and Al were doing a much better job keeping Alfred alive than Scor and I did with Alzie.

"You know what I miss most about having a boyfriend?"

Z had broken up with Ben just earlier that day. She decided to wait until NEWTs were over because she didn't want to emotionally scar him too much that his performance on the NEWTs suffered.

"What, for the whole five hours you haven't had one?"

"yes! I miss snogging. Snogging is wonderful." She sighs.

"That's why I'm going to go see _my_ boyfriend- to snog him. So excuse me…"

I get to the door of our dormitory when I stop and turn around; Z is on her bed, writing in the red notebook Al gave her for Christmas.

"…But I'm sure that if you wanted to find somebody to snog, you could find someone who would be more than willing to snog you." MY COUSIN YOU BLIND GIRL! _Hint, hint nudge, nudge wink, wink!_

I find Scor sitting down in the common room with Al.

"Hello, love" I say and kiss him quickly on the lips.

He grabs my hand and pulls me into his lap, planting a swift kiss on my temple.

"Where's Kenzie?" Al asks.

"Upstairs, writing what's going to be probably another breakup song. Even though I think the breakup was pretty mutual."

Al smirks, "Right, I had forgotten."

I snort delicately "Yes, I'm sure you'd forgotten" I say sarcastically.

Scor chuckles while Al glares at me.

"How is she?"

"Not very heartbroken, you know she had been planning on breaking up with him for a while now."

"She had?"

Scor and I exchange a quick glance.

"Erm yeah, because you know he's leaving. She hates long distance."

"Oh." Al says.

Scor's hand brushes my hair over my ear and I blush and look at him.

He smirks at me- I know it's because he loves to watch me blush.

I roll my eyes at him and turn back to Al who seems to be suddenly very interested in something out the window.

"You can go up to her." I tell him.

"Rose, I can't get passed the staircase." He rolls his eyes like the annoying cousin he is. I'm trying to help him!

"Skip the third stair and hop twice on the seventh."

"What?" he looks at me like I'm crazy.

"Trust me."

He looks like he's actually thinking about doing it…

"Seriously Al, I'm sure she'd love to have you up there."

He quirks an eyebrow at me "If you want to be alone with Scor, just say so."

Scor tightened his grip on my waist reassuringly.

"Of course I don't mind the extra alone time with my boyfriend…" I say looking at Scor again, "but I really do think Z would like to see you."

Do you see what I do for them? One day they will thank me!

"Whatever." Al says and walks away.

I swing both my arms around Scor's neck.

"So loverboy…what do we do now?"

He smirks at me and I know we are both distinctly aware that this will be the last time that we are alone without any parental supervision for a whole summer. Well, there won't be parents constantly watching us this summer so we'll be able to get away…but it won't be the same.

"I know a place we can go." He says.

* * *

The train ride home is relatively uneventful.

I say relatively, and I guess that just proves how crazy my family is.

James and Fred have had their last big hurrah or whatever it is, with Z's help of course, and gave out free candies to everyone. That should have been the first clue. Isn't one of the most commonly known rules 'don't take candy from weird people'?

Anyway the candies ended up exploding, then they melted, and created a huge chocolate swimming pool type thing; which was delicious, but also awful for any kind of clothing whatsoever.

For the remainder of the trip Al, Scor, Z and I shared a carriage, hanging out.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye." Z sniffs dramatically.

"Oh please," I say "we'll owl and I know how to use the telephone for extremely urgent matters."

I hug her tightly and pass her on to the next person, my _boyfriend_-that will probably never get old.

"Make sure to write, eh?" Z begs.

"Of course, Z" Scor hugs her too and passes her to Al.

Z just looks at Al as Scor comes up beside me and slides his arm around my waist.

"Bye," Z whispers.

Al holds out his arms and Z jumps into them.

When he finally let's go, she winks at him and says,

"Now if you ever get tired of the love birds over there" she nods in our direction, "just come and visit me!"

"Really?"

"Well, check in first, who knows what I may be doing! Some much summer, so little time!" she smiles and quickly pecks us each on the cheek before turning and disappearing into the vast crowd.

I give Scor a quick kiss and an "Owl me!" before Al and I too venture into the crowd to find our family.

* * *

**A/N: THE END! wow. I honestly never thought this day would come! This has been such a crazy ride! This is the end of this stage of their lives but NEVER FEAR a SEQUEL is in the works. HOWEVER while I enjoyed writing this story, the sequel will be fundamentally the same but even more unique!**

**Some things that I left you hanging on that will not be resolved in the sequel so i feel the need to enlighten you:**

**1. Sasha is a lesbian. She's in love with Z. :0 I know I know...it just didn't fit into the end of the story...I didn't feel like it was really necessary to add in there...but I'm curious...did anyone guess that?**

**2. NO AL AND AMY NEVER GOT TOGETHER! They just became close friends.**

**3. Z did actually finish that 'project' -you might get some hints of that in the sequel- but again I didn't feel that her writing was as prominent as it was at the beginning of the story so I didn't put it in.**

**4. And yes, Z is a figment of my imagination- she is not me or really in any way close to me and just because she is not just a way for me to insert myself into the Harry Potter world IN ANY WAY! she is _completely_ OC. just to clarify :)**

**AND THAT'S A WRAP!**

**please please please tell me what you think! THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF THESE BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP EVER SO I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW THE OPINION OF _EVERYONE-_ESPECIALLY YOU PEOPLE WHO STORY ALERTED/FAVORITED AND NEVER REVIEWED.**

**I hope you enjoyed it,**

**~wwwccd**

**p.s. I will probably begin to edit this story now. When i first publish it's all about the plot but when i edit it will be about grammatical stuff and maybe slight changes to the story- but nothing major.**


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